Library of trhe 'theological ^eminarjp
PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY
Mrs. Robert Lenox Kennedy
ChnrrVh hlotn^r *>■,,**
BR 1607 .F5 1837 v. 4
Foxe, John, 1516-1587.
The acts and monuments of
John Foxe
THE ACTS AND MONUMENTS
OF JOHN FOXE:
A NEW AND COMPLETE EDITION
WITH A PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION",
BY THE
REV. GEORGE TOWNSEND, M.A.
OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,
PREBENDARY OF DURHAM,
AND VICAR OF NORTHALLERTON', YORKSHIRE.
EDITED BY THE
REV. STEPHEN REED CATTLEY M.A.
or queen's college, Cambridge,
RECTOR OF BAGTHORP, NORFOLK,
AND CHAPLAIN TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF SCARBROUGH.
VOL. IV.
PUBLISHED BY R. B. SEELEY AND W. BURNSIDE ;
AND SOLD BY L. & G. SEELEY,
FLEET STREET, LONDON.
MDCCC XXXVII.
LOKoojr:
< i, \v, l.iu.A D-8TRSBT-HILL,
T0»8' COMMON g.
CONTENTS
VOL. IV.
CONTINUATION OF BOOK VI.
PERTAINING TO THE LAST THREE HUNDRED YEARS FROM THE LOOSING
OUT OF SATAN.
A.D. PAGE
1485. Henry VII, ,°>
1486. Maximilian the Emperor ibid.
1490. The Burning of Joan Boughton, and others 7
1499. Hieronymus Savanarola, with two Friars, Martyrs .... 8
Articles objected against Hierome and the two Friars ... 9
1499 The Ten Grievances complained of by the Germans, and the
to Remedy against them 11
1503. An Advertisement unto the Emperor Maximilian, of the Subtle
Practices of the Pope and Popish Prelates 13
A certain Godly Exhortation unto the Emperor's Majesty . . ibid.
The Edict of Maximilian the Emperor 14
A Letter of Jacobus Selestadiensis to the Emperor Maximilian,
in Answer to the Edict ibid.
1503. The History of the Turks 18
Ottoman, the First great Emperor of the Turks, a. d. 1300 . 25
Orchan, the Second Emperor ibid.
Amurath, the Third Emperor 26
Bajazet, the Fourth Emperor 27
Calephine, the Fifth Emperor 29
Orchan, Mahomet, and Amurath, the Sixth, Seventh, and
Eighth Emperors 30
Mahomet II., the Ninth Emperor 36
Bajazet II., the Tenth Emperor 41
Selim, the Eleventh Emperor 48
Solyman, the Twelfth Emperor 51
A Notice touching the Miserable Persecution, Slaughter, and
Captivity of the Christians under the Turks, and the Authors
of the Turks' Story . 79
The Division of Asia Minor, called Cheronesus 88
Africa 91
6
\ I.
1503
'II,, i',,,|,i„ , ii of the Holy Scriptures considered, touching
ii,. i ng up, and final Ruin and Destruction, of thu
wicked Kingd of the Turks; with the Revelations jukI
of other autBon concemina the sa . 93
\( pariaon between the Syrians and the Turks .... 06
Xhe Prophi i i( oi Mi thodiu , Hildegarde, and others, con-
cerning the Reign and Ruin of the Turks 100
Ini. rpretation of Prophecy |«
\ Prayer again A the Turks '-'
1500 William Tylsworth, Martyr, burned at Amershani .... 123
i,, The cruel handling of Thoma iCha ie, of Amersham ; wickedly
i nd martyred in the I'.i hop i Pri ion af Woburn,
ondei William Smith, Bishop of Lincoln 134
Lau Ghe t, Martyr .••.-.• '"''
1008 \ notable Story «»t' a faithful Woman, burned in Chipping
Sudbury '"'
\ , , .,-. upon Thomas Wittington, who was slain by a bull . 129
1509 John Blomstone, and eighl others, persecuted al Coventry , 133
The Name i of the Archbishops of Canterbury contained in the
Sixth Book ; -. ■ 138
\ Brief Note, with e Recapitulation of Ancient Ecclesiastical
Laws, by sundry Kings of tHis realm ordained, for Govern
ineni of the Church before the Conquest ibid.
The pi I primacy of Popes described : in order of their rising
up, by little and little, from faithful Bishops and Martyrs,
to beci • Lords and Governors over Kings and Kingdoms,
exalting themselves in the Temple of God, above all thai is
called God - 130
The I'm I Ri ing oi thi Bishops of Rome 140
The Words of St. Paul expounded 141
The Exaltation of Popes above Kings and Emperors, out of
Mi i 142
The [mage of Antichrist exalting himself in the Temple of
God, above all thai is called God; out of his own decrees,
decretals, extravagants, pontificals, &c, word fot word, as
ii is mil of the laid lunik, here alleged and quoted . . ■ 145
\n Uphabetical List of the Authorities here alluded to . . 157
Casus.rapales LI. apud Fratrem Astesai , rive de At. Doc
torem solemnera in lumma confessionis. Item apud I [ostien-
lem, de offlc. legat. reperti el hi irersibu i comprehensi. . 161
(.i . i Papal t" the number of one and fifty; wherein the Pope
bath powei to dispense, and none else besides .... l<>2
BOOK vil.
ri.KTAlM'... ro HI! LAS1 i 1 1 1: i i HUNDRED MARS PROM THE LOOSING OU1 01
1509, Huxi \ III Hifi
The Tenor of the Pope's Bull, for the Conception of the Virgin
to be without sin [68
1509 The State and Succession of Princes 17:5
'" The Hi tor} of dii d Men and Women, persecuted for
1518. Ri ligion in the city and diocese of the Bishop of London :
U A --Hi of the Registi i of Ri< hard Pitzjames ;
with tli.ir Examinations ibid.
■I ' Baki r, and thirt) nine others 17.')
The Death and Martyrdom of William Sweeting and John
I ISO
John Brown Mart] r , ISJ
Vk'ji.
1500 The Story of Richard Htm, Martyr; with the Art:
to bim
New Ai t him after bk death . . ,186
ofFitzjamec Hun
beiri£? dead . .
The Verdict of the Inquest 190
derby,
Allen Cresswell, and Richard Horsenail J 02
of Richard 1 B of London,
to Cardinal Wokey 196
the Lord*,
in the- Parliament-house
the Coronet
- in behalf of Kit-hard Htm . . J 07
A \i • !:ard Htm, i and
Alarm* Copm .199
Ehzah and others 20-j
rs, who, in ':
if, abjure 200
John South wick
John Stilman, an'i I him 207
206
Ogham, and Wjhiam Sweeting, alias
... 214
215
. . .2)7
. . the Bishop
of Lincoln, in Kxaminau-s 219
1518 A TaUe deacribinj the
.. with
1521.
: out of the
:j. \'j2\ 221
id, Bishop
ante of Christ, falsely then called
'. 211
fhoae who were abjured in the D
:
.
■joined under pain of rel<- snd,
. . . ' . . ibid.
The '
J'auls 23',
rreh of Cfcriri
the '. r 250
|
described 200
. . .
f ardjnal 271
1021. r. at
■
A I).
1521
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Pope Adrian VI. to the renowned Princes of Germany, and to
the Piers of the Roman Emperors 295
Instructions given by Pope Adrian to Charegatus, his Legate,
touching his Proceedings in the Diet of Nuremberg, how and
l»v what persuasions the Princes were to be moved against
Luther. 29S
The Answer of the Noble and Reverend Princes, and of the
States of fads Sacred Roman Empire, exhibited to the Pope's
Ambassador • • • 30.3
Certain Grievances or Oppressions of Germany, against the
Court of Rome, collected and exhibited by the Princes, at
the Council of Nuremberg, to the number of a hundred,
whereof certain Specialities follow 308
1523, An Intimation given by Philip Melancthon to his Auditory at
Wittenberg, of the decease of Martin Luther, a.d.'1546 . . 320
A Prayer after the manner of Luther 321
Summary of Popish Decrees made at the Council of Ratisbon. 325
The History of the Helvetians or Switzers ; how they first re-
covered their liberty, and afterwards were joined in league
together . ibid.
The Acts and Doings of Uldricus Zuinglius : and the Receiving
of the Gospel in Switzerland 327
Constitutions decreed in the CouiTcil of Bern 329
Answer of the Tigurines, or Men of Zurich, to the five Towns
of the Switzers
Message from the Council to the City of Strasberg .... 339
A Letter of Uldricus Zuinglius to N., his brother in the Lord. 34G
llrh v Noes and John Esch, Friars Augustine, burnt at Brus-
sels, A.n. 1523 349
1524. Henry Sutphen, Monk, a Martyr at Dithmarsch 350
Letter of Solyman the great Turk, to the Master of the Rhodes, ibid.
The lamentable Martyrdom of John Clerk, at Meaux, in
France 361
\o2~>. The History of a good Pastor, murdered for preaching of the
Gospel: written by John CEcolampadius 365
Tlie like History of the Death of a certain Minister, named
Master Peter Spengler, who was drowned: collected by
GEcolampadius 366
Another History of a certain Man of the Country, wrongfully
put to death : collected by John CEcolampadius .... 369
The Story and Martyrdom of Woll'gangus Schuch, a German,
burned at Lorraine 371
1526. John Huglein, Martyr, burned at Mersburg 373
1527. George Carpenter, of Emerich, Martyr, burned in the town of
Munich, in Bavaria 374
The History of Leonard Keyser, Martyr, burned at Schar-
dingham 376
Wendelmuta, Widow, Martyr; at the Hague 377
Peter Flisteden and Adolphua Clarebacb, put to death at
Cologne 378
1534 A Talile of tlie Names and Causes of such Martyrs as gave their
to lives for the testimony of the Gospel, ill Germany, France,
Spain, Italy, and other Foreign Countries, since Luther's
time : in which table are contained the Persecutions, the
Martyrs, and the Causes of their Martyrdom:
The Martyrs of Germany ....." 379
Great Persecution in Gaunt, and other parts of Flanders, by
the Friars and Priests thereof . 383
Another Table of those that suffered in France, for the like
to wit:, | . pel :
1560. The French Martyrs 396
CONTENTS. V
A.D. PAGE
1540 A Table of certain Martyrs, who, for the cause of Religion,
to suffered in Spain :
1560. The Spanish Martyrs 117
The Fonn and Manner of the Execrable Inquisition of Spain. 451
Thirty Christian Prisoners brought before the Council of the
Inquisition 453
1546 A Table of such Martyrs as suffered for the testimony of the
to Gospel, in Italy :
1560. The Italian Martyrs 45S
Eighty-eight Martyrs in one day, with one butcherly knife,
slain like sheep. Sixteen hundred others also condemned
at Calabria 472
1530 A Notable History of the Persecution and Destruction of the
to People of Merindol and Cabriers, in the Country of Pro-
1547. vence 474
An Oration of Catiline, that is, the Oration of the Bishop of
Aix, seditious and bloody 482
An Oration of Bassinet in reply to the Bishop of Aix, followed
by another 483
Supplication of the Inhabitants of Cabriers, and the Answer of
Cardinal Sadolet
The Words of Durand to the Merindolians, with their Answer. 496
Notes upon the History of Merindol, above recited .... 505
1555 The History of the Persecutions and Wars against the people
to called Waldenses or Waldois ; in the Valleys of Angrogne,
1561. Lucerne, St. Martin, Perouse and others; in the county of
Piedmont 507
Substance of the Articles and Confessions of the Angrognians,
exhibited to the President ; with their Interrogatories and the
Answer to them 510
The Crafty Message of the Lord of Trinity to the Angrognians,
with their Answer 525
Conditions and Articles proposed to the Waldois 548
Conclusions and Articles lastly agreed upon between the Right
Honourable Lord of Ranconis, on the part of the Duke's
Highness, and those of the Valleys of Piedmont, called the
Waldois 549
The Conclusion of the Story of Merindol and Cabriers . . . 553
The Story of a Christian Jew martyred by the Turks . . . 555
The Conclusion ibid.
BOOK VIII.
CONTINUING THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH MATTERS APPERTAINING TO BOTH STATES,
AS WELL ECCLESIASTICAL AS CIVIL AND TEMPORAL.
1519 The History of Seven Godly Martvrs burnt at Coventry . . 557
to Robert Silkeb, a. d. 1521 558
1527. Patrick Hamelton, martyred at St. Andrew's, in Scotland,
a. d. 1527 ibid.
Articles and Opinions objected against Master Patrick Hamel-
ton, by James Beton, Bishop of St. Andrew's; followed by
his Sentence 559
1527. The Copy of a Letter congratulatory sent from the Doctors of
Louvain to the Archbishop of St. Andrew's and Doctors of
Scotland, commending them for the Death of Master Patrick
Hamelton 561
1528. A Brief Treatise of Master Patrick Hamelton, called ' Patrick's
Places;' translated into English by John Frith, with the
Epistle of the said Frith prefixed before the same ; treating
of the Doctrine of the Law ; the Doctrine of Faith ; of
Hope ; of Charity, etc 563
I OK II NT-..
PAGE
A l>
I .28
Certain Brief Notes or Declarations upon the aforesaid places
of Master Patrick Hamelton . . . • • •■ • ■ ■ ■ JJJ
Henry Forest martyred at St. Andrews, in Scotland. . . . o/b
Fames Hamelton, Katherine Hamelton j a wife of Leith;
Stratan, and Master Norman Gurleyj the two last
burned
579
Thomas Harding, an aged Father, dwelling at Chesham in
Buckinghamshire, a. d. 1532 • •••••••• -580
Persecution of simple men in the diocese of Lincoln . . .582
A Tahle of all such as were abjured in King Henry's days,
after the first beginning of Luther 585
\ Brief Discourse concerning the Story and Life of Thomas
Wolsej . late Cardinal ofYoric, by way of digression ; wherein
ia t,, be seen and noted the express image of the proud, vain-
glorious Church of Rome, how far it differeth from the true
(lunch of Christ Jesus •r>87
I 527 The Sacking of Rome and Taking of Pope Clement .... 592
'," The Copy of an ambitious Letter written by Thomas Wolsey,
1530, Cardinal of York, unto Stephen Gardiner, one of King
Henry's Orators in the Court of Rome, for procuring of the
papal dignity to the said Cardinal 600
Instructions sent by the King's»Highness to his Trusty Coun-
cillors and Servants, Master Stephen Gardiner, Doctor of
both Laws; Sir Francis Brian, Sir Gregory de Cassalis,
Knights; and Mr. Petre Vanne, the King's Secretary for the
Italian tongue; his Ambassadors in the Court of Rome, for
the Election of the Cardinal of York to the Papacy, if Pope
Clement were dead
Grievances objected against the Clergy of England . . . .611
Articles objected against Cardinal Wolsey 614
1530. The Trouble of Humphrey Mummuth, Alderman of London . 617
Thomas Hitten, burned at Maidstone 619
Thomas Bilney ; also Thomas Arthur, who abjured at Nor-
wich ibid.
1531, Articles against Thomas Arthur 623
Interrogatories objected against Arthur and Bilney . . . .624
Bflney's Answers to the Interrogatories 625
\ Brief Summary or Collection of certain Depositions, deposed
by the several witnesses aforenamed, upon certain interroga-
tories ministered unto them for the inquiry of Master Bil-
nev's Doctrine and Preaching; with certain other articles . 627
A Dialogue between Friar John Brusierd and Master Thomas
Bilney at Ipswich, concerning Worshipping of Images . . 628
The Submission of Master Thomas Bilney 631
A Letter of Master Thomas Bilney to Cuthbert Tonstal, Bishop
of London 633
Another Letter from the same to the same 636
\ Letter of Master Bilney, to Tonstal, Bishop of London, fruit-
ful and accessary for all Ministers to read 639
M- ter Stafford, of Cambridge G56
The Story of Master Simon Fish, author of 'The Supplication
of Beggars1 ibid.
\ ci rtain Libel or Book entitled 'The Supplication of Beggars,'
thrown and scattered at tile Procession ill Westminster, oil
Candlemas-day, before King Henry VIII.; for him to read
and peruse. Made and compiled by Master Pish . . . <>.")!>
The Names of the Hooks tbat were forbidden at this time,
ther with the New Testament 667
\ compendious old Treatise, showing how we ought to have
tin- Scriptures in English 671
A Proclamation for the resisting and withstanding of most
damnable i ! . i . - i •, .own within this Realm by the Disciples
CONTEXTS. VII
A.D. PAGE
1531. of Luther and other Heretics, perverters of Christ's Re-
ligion 676
The Copy of a Letter sent by Bishop Nixe, of Norwich, which
was taken out of the Letter subscribed with his own hand . 679
Richard Bayfield, Martyr 680
Articles laid against Richard Bayfield, and his Answers to them. G82
The Sentence given against him 684
The Sentence of Degradation given against blessed Bayfield,
with the Proceedings thereon 686
The Letters of Requiry, directed to the Mayor and Sheriffs of
the City of London, that they should be present that day,
when the Sentence should be given, to receive the Heretic
(as they called him) that was condemned 687
John Tewkesbury, leatherseller, of London, Martyr . . . 688
The Examination of John Tewkesbury, before Tonstal, bishop
of London G89
Articles extracted out of the Book of 'The Wicked Mammon.' 690
Another Examination of John Tewkesbury, on Articles drawn
out of ' The Wicked Mammon ' 691
Additional Articles objected against John Tewkesbury . . . 692
The Sentence against him 693
John Randall • • • 694
The Story and Apprehension of Edward Freese, a Painter . ibid.
James Bainham, Lawyer and Martyr 697
Interrogatories against James Bainham 698
1532. The Process against James Bainham, in case of Relapse . . 702
John Bent, Martyr 706
One Trapnel, Martyr &«*•
Robert King, Robert Dedham, and Nicholas Marsh, Martyrs, ibid,
fLLUSTRATIONS IN VOL. IV
Ki\f. Henri tut. Eighth in Council page 16.5
Thb Murder of Richard Hun
Seven Godli Martyrs burnt at Coventry . .
Thomas Bilnbi twn e plucked from the Pi lpit
. 18 i
. 557
. 627
ACTS AND MONUMENTS.
VOL. IV.
VOL. IV.
ACTS AND MONUMENTS.
CONTINUATION OF BOOK VI.
PERTAINING TO
THE LAST THREE HUNDRED YEARS FROM THE LOOSING OUT
OF SATAN, i
HENRY THE SEVENTH.
When king Henry, by the providence of God, had obtained this Henry
triumphant victory and diadem of the realm, first sending for Edward VIL
Plantagcnet earl of Warwick, son to George duke of Clarence, and A.D.
committing him to safe custody within the Tower, from Leicester he 1485-
removed to London ; and not long after, according to his oath and
promise made before, espoused to him the young lady Elizabeth, heir
of the house of York; whereby both \he houses of 'York and Lan- The two
caster were conjoined together, to the no little rejoicing of all English S*"«£5
hearts, and no less quiet unto the realm, which was a.V 1485. This t?nc*ste>
king reigned twenty-three years and eight months, and being a prince S".
of great policy, justice, and temperance, kept his realm in good
tolerable rule and order. And here, interrupting a little the course
of our English matters, we will now (the Lord willing) enter the story
above promised, of Maximilian the emperor, and matters of the empire,
especially such as pertain to the church.
Uaajrimtlian tfje <£mper.or.
In the year of our Lord I486, Frederic waxing aged, and partly ad i486
also mistrusting the hearts of the Germans, who had complained before
of their grievances, and could not be heard; and therefore, misdoubt-
ing that his house, after his decease, should have the less favour among
them, for that cause in his lifetime did associate his son Maximilian Beta
to be joined emperor with him ; with whom he reigned the space of ;""'
seven years, till the death of the said Frederic his father, who do- Br2dl°f
parted a.d, 1494, after he had reigned over the empire fifty-three
mPiiSPZ T*n* -FnEd- ]"°' p- m- Ed" 15rc' p- ro'- x:d- 1583' '•• 729- EJ- 159«. P-cro.
ric, the
emperor.
I il
TMF. CKF.AT LBAKNIJJG OF MAXIMILIAN' THE EMPEROR.
yean lacking but three yean of the- reign of Augustus Caesar, under
_ whom was the birth ..four Lord and Saviour Christ.
vi.. This Maximilian, as he was a valiant emperor, prudent and smgu-
i 's,;- 1 u-lv learned bo was his reign entangled in many unquiet and difficult
wan • first in the lower countries of Flanders and Brabant, where the
said '.Maximilian was taken captive, but shortly after rescued and
uua,. delivered again by his father, a.d. 1487. It was signified before,
how this Maximilian, bv the advice of the Burgundians, had to wife
Mary the only daughter of Charles duke of Burgundy afore men-
tion.'.! ■ by whom he had two children, Philip and Margaret, a.d. 1477;
which Mary not long after, about a.d. 1481, by a fall from her horse,
f. 11 into an ague, and departed. Other wars, many more, the same
Maximilian also achieved, both in France, in Italy, in Hungary, and
diven besides.
The So happy was the education of this emperor in good letters, so
expert he was in tongues and sciences, but especially such was his
«»«u«n. dexterity and promptness in the Latin style, that he, imitating the
Writer <rf example of Julius Caesar, did write and comprehend in Latin histories
his own acts and feats done, and that, in such sort, that when he had
given a certain taste of his history to one Picamerus, a learned man,
asking his judgment how his warlike style of Latin did like him, the
said Picamerus did affirm and report of him to John Carion (the
witness and writer of this story), that he did never see nor read in
anv German story, a thing more exactly (and that in such haste) done,
as 'this was of Maximilian. Moreover, as he was learned himself, so
was he a singular patron and advancer of learned students, as may
i !1 appear by the erecting and setting up the university of Witten-
berg. By this emperor many in those days were excited to the em-
bracing as well of other liberal arts, as also, namely, to the searching
out of old antiquities of histories, whereby divers were then by him
first occasioned in Germany, to set their minds, and to exercise their
diligence, in collecting and explicating matters pertaining to the know-
ledge of history, as well of ancient as also of later times, as namely
Cuspinian, Nauclerus, Conrad, Peutinger, Manlius, and others.
Here now it began right well to appear, what great benefit was
broached to the world by the art and faculty of printing, as is before
mentioned. Through the means of which printing, the church and
commonwealth of Christ began ttOW to be replenished with learned
men, as both may appear by this emperor, being so endued himself
with BUch excellent knowledge of good letters, and also by diven
oili.r famous and worthy wits, who began now in this age exceedingly
(into to increase and multiply: as Baptista Mantuanus, Augustus Poli-
tianus, rlermolaus Barbaras, Picus Mirandula, and Franciscus his
•1"m- cousin, Rodolphus Agricola, Pontanus, Philippus, Beroaldus, Mar-
mImis Ficinua, Volateranus, Georgius Valla, with infinite others.
Among whom is also to fie numbered Weselus Ghroningensis, other-
wise named Basiliu8,who was not long after Johannes dcW'csalia above
recited ; Ii,,i|i much about one time, and both great friends together.
A»" D Wi elus died a. i). 1490. After that Johannes, doctor of
W ■ alia aforesaid, was condemned, this Weselus, being familiar witfi
him thought that the inquisitor would come and examine him also,
Uarj waanlecc to king Bdw, IV.
THE DOCTRINE OP WESELUS. D
as he himself, in a certain epistle, doth write. He was so notable and »«■»
worthy a man, that of the people he was called ' Lux Mllfidi,1 that is, _ ' "'
4 The' light of the world/ A. I).
Concerning his doctrine, first he reprehended the opinion of the 14!i()"
papists, as touching repentance, which they divided into three parts,
of the which three parts, satisfaction and confession he did disallow.
Likewise purgatory and supererogation of works and pardons he did
disprove, both at Rome and at Paris. He spake against the pope's
indulgences, by the occasion whereof divers of the pope's court, per-
suaded by him, began to speak more freely against the same matter
than he himself had done.
The abuses of masses, and praying for the dead he disallowed ; The
and likewise the supremacy of the pope he utterly rejected (as g^e!
appeareth in a book of his, ' De Sacramento poenitentije1), denying ",^i'tfc.ll
utterly that any supreme head or governor ought to be in the world against.
over all others ; affirming also, and saying many times, that the pope
had no authority to do any thing by commandment, but by truth
(that is, so far as truth goeth with him, so far his sentence to stand) ;
neither that he ought to prevail by commanding, but only by teach-
ing, so as every true christian bishop may prevail over another.1 Also,
in some place in his writings he denieth not, but that popes and their
spiritual prelates, proceeding against Christ's doctrine, be plain anti-
christs. Such as were infirm, and not able to perform the bond of
chastity taken upon them, he said, they might well break their vow.
Also the said Weselus witnesseth, that the forefathers who Avere
before Albert and Thomas, did resist and withstand the pope's in-
dulgences, calling them in their writings plain idolatry ; mere fraud
and error ; adding moreover, that unless the severity of some good
divines had withstood these pardons and indulgences of the pope,
innumerable errors had overflowed the church.
Amongst these works of Weselus, there is a certain epistle of one
who had written to him, in which the author of the epistle confesseth,
that in his time there was a certain learned man at Paris, called
Master Thomas de Curselis, a dean ; who, being in the council of
Basil, when divers began to advance the power of the pope too far,
declared and affirmed, to be said to him of Christ, " Quicquid liga- Christ's
veris super terram, erit ligatum et in ccelo,11 &c, and not '* quicquid ;'''■,",',''
dixeris esse ligatum ;"" that is, " Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon de cur-
earth, shall be bound in heaven,"1"1 but not, " whatsoever thou sayest touching
to be bound.11 As who should say, the pope cannot and doth not J^,,,
bind therefore, because he so saith, except truth and righteousness 'Ou'^
go also with him : then, he doth so bind indeed.2 There is a certain gaveris.*
book of this man., amongst divers others, which he entitled, ' De sub-
ditis et superioribus,1 in which he disputeth greatly against the pope
and his prelates ; affirming that the pope, unless his faith and doctrine
be sound, ought not to be obeyed. He affirmeth also that the pope
may err, and when he errcth, men ought by all manner of means to Against
resist him. Item, That great and superfluous riches in the clergy do ***£
not profit, but hurt the church. That the pope doth wickedly dis- church.
(1) Ex lib. D. Weseli. De sacramento poenitentis.
(2) Not whatsoever is said to be loosed on earth, is loosed in heaven ; but whatsoever is loosed
In very deed in earth, that is also looted indeed in heaven.
I lull.
6 BODULPHUS AGUK'OI.A, MARTYR.
Henry tribute the rents of the church, and the church itself, to unworthy
rn _ ministers by simonv, for his own profit and gain, whereby it may
A.U. appear, that he neither carcth for God, nor for the health of the
'• church. Item, That the precepts and commandments of the pope
me pre- and prelates be no otherwise, but as the counsels and precepts of
. physicians, binding no further than they are found to be wholesome,
uteVhTw ;mi1 ■tandig with" the truth of the word. Item, That the pope can
command no man under pain of deadly sin, except God command
iTta" him before. He saith, that the keys of the pope and of the prelates
be Dot Bach wherewith they open the kingdom of heaven, but rather
shut it, as the Pharisees did. Concerning vows, he disputeth that
such as be foolish and impossible ought to be broken; that the
. hearers ought to discern and judge of the doctrine of their prelates,
and not to receive every thing that they say, without due examination.
He showcth, moreover, that the sentence of excommunication is of
*" more force, proceeding from a true, godly, honest, simple, and learned
man, than from the pope ; as in the council of Constance, Bernard
was more esteemed than Eugene. Also if the pope with his prelates
govern and rule naughtily, that the inferiors, be they ever so base,
ought to resist him.
Writing moreover of two popes, Pius II. and Sixtus IV., he
saith, that Pius II. did usurp unto himself all the kingdoms of the
whole world, and that Sixtus the pope did dispense with all manner
of oaths, in causes temporal, not only with such oaths as have been
already, but also with all such as shall be made hereafter: which was
nothing else but to give liberty and license for men to forswear them-
selves, and deceive one another.
a pro- This Wcsclus, being a Phrygian born, and now aged in years, on a
certain time when a young man called Master Johannes Ostendorpius1
came to him, said these words : " Well, my child, thou shalt live to
that day, when thou shalt sec that the doctrine of these new and con-
tentious divines, as Thomas and Bonaventurc, with others of the
same sort, shall be utterly rejected and exploded from all true christian
divines." And this, which Ostendorpius, then being young, heard
W < ->lus to speak, he reported himself to Noviomagus, who wrote
the Btory, \.n. 1520, and heard it at the mouth of the said Weselus
a.d. 1 fc90, March 18.
Philip Melancthon, writing the life of Rodulphus Agricola,
saith, that Josquinus Groningensis, an ancient and a godly man,
reported thai when he was young, he was oftentimes present at the
Rodni- sermons of Rodulphus and Weselus, wherein they many times
lamented the darkness of the church, and reprehended the abuses of
J;;;.'"" the mass, and of the single life of priests.2 Item, That they disputed
!!["u,''.''" oftentimes of the righteousness of faith, why St. Paul so oftentimes
did inculcate, that men be justified by faith, and not by works. The
same Josquine also reported, that they did openly reject and disprove
the opinion of monks, who say that men be justified by their works.
Item, Concerning men's traditions their opinion was that all such
m re deceived, whosoever attributed unto those traditions any opinion
udorpiui wu ■ man wall learned, and oanon of the minster of Lubeck. Ex
lphu« Agricola wa» of good Judgment, though the friars
after* "
JOAN BOUGHTON, MARTYR ; AND OTHERS. 1
of God's worship, or that they might not be broken. And thus much fiaw*
for the story of doctors Wesalia and Weselus. _
By this it may be seen and noted, how, by the grace of God and A. I).
gift of printing, first came forth learning ; by learning came light, to 14L>0-
judge and discern the errors of the pope from the truth of God's
word ; as partly by these above said may appear, partly by others
that follow after (by the grace of Christ) shall better be seen.
3Cfjc burning of %aan 25ougf)ton, ana (©tfjecjS.
About the very same time and season, when the gospel began thus a d.h9».
to branch and spring in Germany, the host of Christ's church began
also to muster and to multiply likewise here in England, as by these
histories here consequent may appear. For not long after the death
of this Weselus, a.d. 1494, and in the ninth year of the reign of
king Henry VII., the 28th of April, was burned a very old woman
named Joan Boughton, widow, and mother to the lady Young, Joan
which lady was also suspected to be of that opinion which her mother SSJj8*"
was. Her mother was fourscore years of age or more, and held eight j1^1}!" .,0
of Wickliffs opinions (which opinions my author doth not show) for Young,
which she was burnt in Smithfield the day abovesaid. My author mart>r
saith, she Avas a disciple of Wickliff, whom she accounted for a saint,
and held so fast and firmly eight of his ten opinions, that all the
doctors of London could not turn her from one of them ; and when
it was told her that she should be burnt for her obstinacy and false
belief, she set nothing by their menacing words, but defied them : for
she said, she was so beloved of God, and his holy angels, that she
passed not for the fire ; and in the midst thereof she cried to God to
take her soul into his holy hands. The night following that she was
burnt, the most part of her ashes were had away by such as had a
love unto the doctrine that she died for.
Shortly after the martyrdom of this godly aged mother, a.d. 1497, A.D.1497.
and the 17th of January, being Sunday, two men, the one called wa^nde.
Richard Milderale, and the other James Sturdy, bare faggots before g*™sy
the procession of Paul's, and after stood before the preacher in the
time of his sermon. And upon the Sunday following stood other
two men at Paul's cross all the sermon time ; the one garnished with
painted and written papers, the other having a faggot on his neck.
After that, in Lent season, upon Passion Sunday, one Hugh Glover Hugh
bare a faggot before the procession of Paul's, and after, with a faggot, £„„,"■
stood before the preacher all the sermon, while at Paul's Cross. And, "^"s
on the Sunday next following, four men stood, and did their open faggots.
penance at Paul's, as is aforesaid, in the sermon time, and many of
their books were burnt before them, at the cross.
Furthermore, the next year following, which was a.d. 1498, in the a.d.mm.
beginning of May, the king then being at Canterbury, there was a burnt"
priest burnt, who was so strong in his opinion, that all the clerks and
doctors then there being, could not remove him from his faith :
whereof the king being informed, he caused the said priest to be
brought before his presence, who, by his persuasion, caused him to
revoke ; and so he was burnt immediately.
In the same year (a.d.1498), after the beheading of Edward Plan-
An. .1.1
burned
BAVAUABOI.A, AND TWO FBIAAS, MARTYRS.
r*H taitenet earl of Warwick, and son to the duke of Clarence, the king
™L aS oneen being removed to Calais, a certain godly man and a con-
v 17 rtant n artyr of Christ, named Babram, in Norfolk, was burnt m the
WW. month 0f July, as is in Fabian recorded, after the copy which I have
written. Albeit in the Book Fabian printed, his burning is referred
to the next year following, which is a.d. 1499.1
About which year likewise, or in the year next following, the 20th
day of July, was an old man burnt in Smithfiehl.
tycronnmitf &atoanarola, toitfj ttoo fttotf, J&artntf.
In the same year also (a.d. 1499), fell the martyrdom and
burning of HieronymnB Sayanarola, a man no less godly in heart
than constant in hi's profession; who, being a monk in Italy, and
sinzularjy well learned, preached sore against the evil life and living
of the spiritualty, and specially of his own order; complaining sore
upon them, as the springs and authors of all mischiefs and wickedness.
Whereupon, by the help of certain learned men, he began to seek
reformation in his own order. Which thing the pope perceiving, and
fearing that the said Hierome, who was now in great reputation amongst
all men, should diminish or overthrow his authority, he ordained his
vicar ox provincial to see reformation of these matters; which vicar
with great superstition began to reform things, but the said Hierome
did always withstand him ; whereupon he was complained of to the
pope, and, because that contrary unto the pope's commandment he
Prophecy did withstand his vicar, he was accursed. But for all that Hierome
left not off preaching, but threatened Italy with the wrath and indig-
nation of God, and prophesied before unto them, that the land should
Pope" be overthrown for the pride and wickedness of the people, and for
%%£*' the untruth, hvpocrisf, and falsehood of the clergy, which God would
not have unrevenged; as afterwards it came to pass, when king
Araeh Charles came into Italy and to Rome, and so straightly beset pope
kind. - ■*- - - •■• -i i i •
t.. appear
he was commanded to appear before the pope, to give account ot his
new learning (for so then they called the truth of the gospel); but,
by means of the manifold perils, he made his excuse that he could
not come. Then was he again forbidden by the pope to preach, and
ut'erau. his learning pronounced and condemned as pernicious, false, and
seditious.
This Hierome, as a man worldly wise, foreseeing the great perils
and dangers that might come unto him, for fear, left off preaching,
liut when the people, who sore hungered and longed for God's word,
were instant upon him that he would preach again, he began again
to preach a.d. 1496, in the city of Florence ; and albeit that many
counselled him that he should" not so do without the pope's com-
mandment, yet did he not regard it, but went forward freely of his
own rood will. When the pope and his shavelings heard news of
thi , th( y were grievously incensed and inflamed against him, and now
again cursed him, as an obstinate and stitmecked heretic. But for all
that, 1 1 ierome proceeded in teaching and instructing the people, saying
( 1 ) I'.x Fabianio, ct alio scripto codice.
..I Ban
nwola
Alexander, that he was forced to make composition with the king.
drained,
ARTICLES OBJECTED AGAINST THEM. ]
that men ought not to regard such curses, which are against the Hew
true doctrine and the common profit, whereby the people should be //;'
learned and amended, Christ's kingdom enlarged, and the kingdom of A.I),
the devil utterly overthrown. ] '■'•'■
In all his preaching he desired to teach no other thing than the
only ptire and simple word of God, making often protestation that all
men should certify him, if they had heard him teach or preach any
thing contrary thereunto ; for, upon his own conscience, he knew not
that he had taught any thing but the pure word of God. What his
doctrine was, all men may easily judge by his books that he hath
written.
After this (a.d. 1498) he was taken and brought out of St. Mark's Hierom,
cloister, and two other friars with him, named Dominic and Silvester, otherM
mitttd to
godly meditation upon that most comfortable thirty-first Psalm : " In prison.
te Domine speravi, non confundar in seternum, scd in justitia tua libera mentvy
me ;" wherein he doth excellently describe and set forth the continual p^"m
strife between the flesh and the spirit. xx*'-
After this the pope's legates came to Florence, and called forth
these three good men, threatening them marvellously ; but they con-
tinued still constant. Then came the chief counsellors of the city,
with the pope's commissioners, who had gathered out certain articles
against these men, whereupon they were condemned to death ; the
tenor of which articles hereafter ensue.
Articles objected against Hierome and the two Friars.
I. The first article was as touching our free justification through faith in
Christ.
II. That the communion ought to he ministered under both kinds.
III. That the indulgences and pardons of the pope were of no effect.
IV. For preaching against the filthy and wicked living of the cardinals and
spiritualty.
V. For denying the pope's supremacy.
VI. Also, that he had affirmed that the keys were not given unto Peter alone,
but unto the universal church.
VII. Also, that the pope did neither follow the life nor doctrine of Christ;
for that he did attribute more to his own pardons and traditions, than to Christ's
merits ; and therefore he was Antichrist.
VIII. Also, that the pope's excommunications are not to he feared, and that
he who cloth fear or flee them is excommunicate of God.
IX. Item, that auricular confession is not necessary.
X. Item, that he had moved the citizens to uproar and sedition.
XI. Item, that he had neglected and condemned the pope's citation.
XII. Item, that he had shamefully spoken against, and slandered the pope.
XIII. Item, that he had taken Christ to witness of bis naughtiness and
heresy.
XIV. Also, that Italy must be cleansed through God's scourge, for the
manifold wickedness of the princes and clergy.
These and such other like articles were laid unto them and read
before them. Then they demanded of the said Hierome and his
companions, whether they would recant and give over their opinions.
Whereunto they answered, that through God's help they would
steadfastly continue in the manifest truth, and not depart from the
10 PROPHECIES OF SAVANAIIOLA.
Jiwy same. Then were they degraded one after another by the bishop of
V.i-ion, and BO delivered over to the secular rulers of Florence, with
\.D. straight commandment to carry them forth, and handle them as
obstinate and stiflheeked heretics.
savana- Thus was the worthy witness of Christ, with the other two afore-
[.,'1;ir,ltb said, first hanged up openly in the market-place, and afterward burnt
3J2* to ashes, and the ashes gathered up, and cast into the river Arno, the
J4thofMay, a.d. 1499.'
A* the This man foreshowed many things to come, as the destruction of
tTc"'°f Florence and Rome, and the renewing of the church; which three
dings have happened in these times within our remembrance. Also
e Foreshowed that the Turks and Moors, in the latter days, should
' be converted unto Christ. He also declared that one, like unto
Cyrus, should pass the Alps into Italy, who should subvert and
destroy all Italy : whereupon Johannes Franciscus Picus, earl of
Alirandula, called him a holy prophet, and defended him by his
writings against the pope. Many other learned men also defended
the innocency of the said Savanarola. Masilius Ficinus also, in a
certain epistle, doth attribute unto him the spirit of prophecy, greatly
commending and praising him. In like manner Philippus Comi-
neas, a French historiographer, who had conference with him,
witnesseth that he was a holy man/and full of the spirit of prophecy,
forasmuch as he had foreshowed unto him so many things which in
event had proved true.2
There were besides these, many others, not to be passed over or
forgotten: as Philip Noricc, an Irishman, professor at Oxford, who
albeit he was not burned, yet (as it is said) he was long time vexed
and troubled by the religious rout. But would to God, that such as
have occupied themselves in writing of histories, and have so dili-
gently committed unto memory all other things done in foreign com-
monwealths, had bestowed the like diligence and labour in noting and
writing those things which pertain unto the affairs of the church;
whereby posterity might have had fuller and more perfect under-
standing and knowledge of them.
This Savanarola above mentioned, suffered under pope Alexander
VI., of which pope more leisure and opportunity shall serve hereafter
(< inist willing) to treat, after we shall first make a little digression,
to treat of certain eases and complaints of the Germans, incident in
the mean time, which, as they are not to be overpast in silence, so
can they have no place nor time more convenient to be inferred.
(II V.\ e.itil. Testium Illyricl.
following lines, inserted in some recent editions, have been introduced since Foxe s
death : they arc BlgO m a Dutch Martyrology, published at Dort, in 1057.— Ed.
" Antonius Flaminlus, an Italian, and, for piety and learning, famous in that age, wrote this
ma upon tin- death of Hieronymus Savanarola:—
Hum fcra flamma tuos, IJiernnymc! pascitur artus,
dllaniata comas,
Flevit, et '0,'dlxit, ' crudeles parcite flammsc,
Paiclte, sunt isto viscera nostra rogo.'
Whicli may he thus Englished.
Whilst flames unjust, blest saint ! thy body burn,
Weeping Religion, with dishevell'd hairs,
Cries oat and ... ' O spare his sacred urn,
Spare, cruel flames, that lire OUT soul impairs.' "
THE COMPLAINT OF T1JE GERMANS. 11
What complaints of the Germans were made and moved unto the ff«w»
emperor Frederic against the pope's suppressions and exactions,
mention was made before ; where also was declared, how the said A. D.
Germans at that time were twice put back and forsaken of the empe- 1499
ror, whereby they continued in the same yoke and bondage until the ,1°
time of Luther. Wherefore it cometh now to hand, and we think it —
also good here briefly to declare, how the said Germans, in the time of plaint of
Maximilian the emperor, renewing their complaints again, delivered 1^""
unto the emperor ten principal grievances, whereby the Germans have gainst
been long time oppressed ; showing also the remedies against the renewed.
same, with certain advisements unto the emperor's majesty, how he
might withstand and resist the pope's subtleties and crafts : the order
and tenor whereof here ensueth.
The ten principal Grievances, complained of by the Germans.
I. That the bishops of Rome, successors one unto another, do not think
themselves bound to observe and keep the bulls, covenants, privileges, and
letters, granted by their predecessors, without all derogation ; but by often dis-
pensation, suspension and revocation, even at the instance of every vile person,
they do gainsay and withstand the same.
II. That the elections of prelates are oftentimes put back.
III. That the elections of presidentships are withstood, which the chapter-
houses of many churches have obtained with great cost and expense, as the
churches of Spire and Hasselt do well know ; whose bull touching the election
of their president, is made frustrate, he being yet alive who granted the
same.
IV. That benefices, and the greatest ecclesiastical dignities, are reserved for
cardinals and head-notaries.
V. That expectative graces, called vowsons, are granted without number, and
many oftentimes unto one man, whereupon continual contentions do arise, and
much money is spent, both that which is laid out for the bulls of those vowsons
which never take effect, and also that which is consumed in going to law.
Whereupon this proverb hath risen, ' Whosoever will get avowson from Rome,
must have one or two hundred pieces of gold laid up in his chest, for the obtaining
of the same, which he shall have need of, to prosecute the law withal.'
VI. That Annates, or yearly revenues are exacted without delay or mercy,
even of the bishops lately dead, and oftentimes more extorted than ought to
be, through new offices and new servants, as by the examples of the churches
of Mentz and Strasburg, may be seen.
VII. That the rule of the churches is given at Rome unto those that are not
worthy, who were more fit to feed and keep mules, than to have the rale and
governance of men.
VIII. That new indulgences and pardons, with the suspension and revoca-
tion of the old, are granted to gather and scrape money together.
IX. That tenths are exacted, under pretence of making war against the
Turk, when no expedition doth follow thereupon.
X. That the causes which might be determined in Germany, where there are
both learned and just judges, are indistinctly1 carried unto the court of Rome;
which thing St. Bernard, writing to pope Eugene, seemeth wonderfully to re-
prove.
The remedy against the said Grievances.
If it shall seem good unto the emperor's majesty, let it be declared unto the
bishop of Rome, how grievous and intolerable a thing it is unto the Germans,
(1) "Indistinctly," without distinction — Eu.
] a THE REMEDY PROPOSED.
~ ,• ,„,,„, „•.,..., charees and grievances, to pay so great annates
%? f*Z ma S, offi lilhi and archbishops, and especially in sneh
si, mic; where the Annates, by process of time, are enhanced, ard in many,
A1X i hi ull . For the archbishop's see of Mente, as it is said, some-
:, "id , 1 " 10,000 florins; which sum, when one who was chosen there
"• r s, 1 to rive and so continued even unto his death, he who was afterwards
: u. b£? desirous of confirmation, fearing to withstand lie apostolic
.... offered L old sum of 10,000 florins: but notwithstandrng he could
Z llis confirmation, except he would pay the other 10,000, which his
ar. h
predecessor before bin had not paid.
" ' Bv this means be was compelled to pay 20,000 florins ; which, being enrolled
"","<!,* in the register of the chamber, hath been exacted of every archbishop smce,
l"'Ut" Id these our days : and not only 20,000, but also 25,000, for their new offices
and new servants." At last, the sum drew to 27,000 florins, which James, the
archbishop of Mente, was compelled to pay, as his commissary did report. So
bv this means, in a little time there were seven times 25,000 florins paid out of
tfie archbishopric of Mente unto Rome, for the confirmation ot the archbishop.
A ad when the archbishop James had kept this archbishopric scarcely four years,
tin' lord Uriel was elected after him, who was compelled to pay at the least
2 I 000, or 25,000 florins; whereof a part he borrowed of merchants. But, to
gatisfy and pay them again, he was forced to exact a subsidy of his poor sub-
jects and husbandmen, whereof some have not yet satisfied and paid the tribute
Vui- the bishop's pall, so that by this means our people are not. only tormented
and brought to extreme poverty, but also are moved unto rebellion, to seek
their liberty by what means soever they may, grievously murmuring against the
cruelty of "the clergy.
The pope also should be admonished,' how that, through divers and sundry
wars and battles, the lands of Germany lie desolate and waste, and through
many mortalities, the number of men is diminished, so that for the scarceness of
husbandmen, the fields for the most part lie untilled, the tolls are by divers
means diminished, the mines consumed, and the profits daily decay, whereby
the archbishops and bishops should pay their annates unto the apostolic see,
besides their other necessary and honest charges; insomuch that, not without
jusl cause, .lames, the archbishop of Mentz, being even at the point of death,
Ti,c ,mh- said, Thai he did not so much sorrow for his own death, as for that his poor
! subjects Bhould be again forced to pay a grievous exaction for the pall. Where-
,';,',',„'!"' fore let the high bishop, as a godly father and lover of his children, and a
I'.uY faithful and prudent pastor, deal more favourably with his children the Ger-
mans, lest that persecution happen to rise against the priests of Christ, and
that men, following the example of the Bohemians, do swerve from the church
of Koine.
At hast, let him be more favourable, as often as any archbishop or bishop
may happen to rule his church but a few years ; as it happened to the bishops
of Bamberg, whereof three died within a fewyears. The like also might happen
bj other bishoprics, whereof, as ./Eneas Sylvius witnesseth, there are in Ger-
many to the number of fifty, besides abbots, whereof a great number are con-
nuny. firmed at Rome.
And admit that in Germany there were greater profits and revenues arising
of the -round, mines, and tolls; notwithstanding the emperor and the other
princes should lack treasure and munition of war against their enemies, and espe-
cially the infidels, and to preserve Germany in peace and quietness, and to
minister justice unto every man : for which purpose the council of the chamber,
being most holily instructed, and furnished with great cost and charges, doth
chic lly serve. Besides that, the emperor hath need of treasure, to suppress
the rebels in the empire, to banish and drive away thieves and murderers,
■ ■ of •' great number are not ashamed not to spoil churches only, and to rob
them of their goods, but also to assail the clergy themselves. Finally, our
nation and country of Germany hath need of great riches and treasure, not
only tor the repairing of churches and monasteries, but also for hospitals
for children that ari' laid out in the streets, for widows, for women with
child, lor orphans, for marriage of the daughters of poor men, that they be
not defiled for BUch as have need and necessity, for the old and weak, for
A GODLV EXHORTATION TO THE EMPEROR. IS
the sick and the sore, whereof (the more is the sorrow) Germany is fully re- jiennj
plenished and filled. l JI-
A.D.
Ail Advertisement unto the Emperor Maximilian, of the subtle 1499
Practices of the Pope and Popish Prelates. to
1503.
Let the emperor's majesty foresee and provide that the begging friars do not
preach against his majesty, who are wont to complain gladly unto the apostolic
see, fearing to lose their privileges, which I woidd to God were as well grounded
upon Christ, as they are upon profit. Let the emperor's majesty also beware,
that the pope do not give commandment unto the electors, to proceed to the
election of a new king of Romans, as he did against Frederic II., when the
landgrave of Thuringia, and William earl of Holland, were elected by the com-
mandment of the pope. Let the emperor's majesty also fear and take heed of
all the prelates of the churches, and especially of the presidents, who by their
oath are bound to advertise the pope. Let the emperor's majesty also fear and
beware, that the pope do not take away from his subjects their obedience, and
provoke the people bordering upon him, to make invasion into the emperor's
dominions and archduchy of Austria ; which those men, under colour of showing
obedience unto the pope's commandment, be ready to do.
Let the emperor's majesty, also, take heed of the apostolic censures, from
which the pope will in no case refrain. Finally, let the emperor's majesty
diligently foresee and take heed, that the pope do not persuade the people with
most subtle arguments, contrary to the Pragmatical sanction, excusing himself, The
and getting the good will of the simple, alleging that with great costs and JjJSLJ.-
charges, he will repair the church of St. Peter in Rome, and build in certain „f build
places against the Turks, and recover again the lands and patrimony pertaining '"S St.
unto the church of St. Peter ; as he is bound by his office. Therefore let your church in
majesty diligently foresee and deliberate, how, through your most wise and discreet Rome,
counsel, if need shall require, you will answer to those subtleties of the pope.
A certain godly Exhortation unto the Emperor's Majesty.
Your majesty can do nothing better, nothing more acceptable, or more A suppli-
worthy eternal remembrance, than to moderate the great exactions and op- Ma'hni'
pressions of the Germans; to take away all occasion from the laity, to persecute nan the
the clergy : also to take away the benefices out of the hands of courtesans, who emperor
can neither preach, comfort, nor counsel any man (of which benefices, asiEneas renress
Sylvius writeth, some are equal to the bishoprics of Italy), to increase God's of the
honour and worship ; and so to bridle the avarice and ungodliness of those clmrcl1-
courtesans, whereby your majesty may the better provide for the children of
many noble and famous men and citizens in Germany ; who, being brought up
from their youth in the universities, learning both the Scriptures, and other
human letters, may, without unquiet vexations and most sumptuous charges
and contentions, aspire to the ecclesiastical promotions ; who, by their counsel
and prayers, may be helps unto the whole church : for there is no small occa-
sion, why the realm of France should so flourish, having so many notable
learned men in it. If the emperor would abolish this impiety, and restore Ger-
many unto her ancient liberty, which is now oppressed with grievous tributes,
and would make way for learned and honest men unto ecclesiastical pro-
motions ; then might he truly and perpetually be called of all men, and in all
places, the restorer of Germany to her ancient liberty, and the father of his
country ; and should obtain no less glory thereby unto himself, and profit unto
Germany, than if he had by force of anns subdued any province unto them.
And so shall Germany render no less thanks unto the said Maximilian, than
unto all the rest, who, having translated the empire from the Grecians unto
Germany, have reigned many years before.
Hereafter ensueth the copy of a certain letter of the emperor
Maximilian, given out in manner of a decree or commandment
against certain abuses of the clergy : whercunto we have also annexed
the answer of Jacobus Selestadiensis unto the emperors letters,
|| AN edict ok TKE EMPEEOE, AND A REPLY THERETO.
■m wherein be seemeth also to have sought advice for the remedy of the
''"■ like abuses, which we thought good here not to be omitted.
A.I).
1408 An Edict of Maximilian the Emperor.
1503 We, according to the example of our dearly beloved father, Frederic em-
'- pert* of Rome, reverencing the chief pastor of the church, and all the clergy-,
have suffered no small revenues of the ecclesiastical dignities to be carried out
of our dominion by the prelates and clergy that are absent, whose faults, com-
mitted by human frailty with Constantine our predecessor, we have not dis-
dained to hide and cover. But forasmuch as through our liberality, the decay
of God's honour hath arisen, it is our part, (who are elect unto the empire,
without any desert) to foresee, that among all other affairs of peace and war,
the churches do not decay, religion quail not, nor God's true worship be dimi-
nished ; which we have manifestly experimented, and daily do perceive by the
insatiable covetousness of some, who are never satisfied in getting of benefices,
through whose absence (being resident only upon one), God's honour and
worship are diminished, houses decay, churches decrease, the ecclesiastical
liberty is hurt, learning and monuments are lost and destroyed, hospitality and
alms diminished, and, by their insatiable greediness, such of the clergy, as for
their learning and virtue, were worthy of benefices, and for their wisdpm profit-
No man able in commonwealths, are hindered and put back. Wherefore, according to the
to have 0^cc an(j (|uty 0f our estate, for the love of the increase of God's honour, we
i exhort and require, that no man from henceforth, having any canonship or
w P»- vicarage in one city of our empire, shall occupy or possess a prebend in another
once* at church of the same city, except he give over the first within a year's space unto
some person fit and profitable for the church ; neither that he do, by unjust
quarrels, vex or trouble any man in getting of benefices ; neither that any man
do falsely feign himself to have been of the emperor's household, who hath not
been comprehended within the league and agreement made by the princes ;
neither that any man attempt to take away the patronages from any layman,
or aggravate the small prebends of curates of churches, with pensions ; neither
that they do use in getting of benefices and bulls, any fraud, deceit, false in-
struments, corrupt witnesses, and cloaked simony ; neither that any man pre-
sume to obtain any regress, or other thing contrary to Ihe sacred canons, right,
honesty, equity, and reason, upon pain of the most grievous offence of treason :
the which we will, that not only they (going so contrary to God and all ho-
nesty), but also all their favourers, who do help, counsel, harbour, or give them
any tiling, all their messengers and writers, proctors, sureties, and other their
friends, shall incur, and receive condign punishment for so great offence and
contempt of our commandment.
From Oenopont, &c.
Here ensueth the copy of a Letter written unto the emperor
Maximilian.
A Letter of Jacobus Selestadiensis, to the Emperor Maximilian, in
answer to the Edict.
To our most victorious lord, Maximilian the emperor, Jacobus Selestadiensis,
with most humble commendations :
Moat victorious emperor ! when I had read your majesty's epistle, and re-
ceived instructions of your secretary, I prepared myself, with all my whole
endeavour, to satisfy your majesty's desire. For even from my youth hitherto,
I have applied all my care and study, first for the honour of your majesty, and
'•quently, for the amplifying of the German nation, and sacred Roman
empire. Albeit I know myself far unable to satisfy your desire and purpose,
and there ;uv many who can fulfil this matter much better, who have greater
learning and experience of these common matters. There be also with other
princes, and in the senates of commonwealths, many excellent learned men,
who can exomsie and beautify Germany, and persuade to reduce all the clergy
CEMES, THE TURK S BROTHER, POISONED I!V THE POPE. 15
Henry
A.D.
1499
to
1503.
unto a christian discipline, and to a unity and peace of the universal church .
wherein, not only your majesty, but also your predecessors, as Charles the "y'11'-
Great, and his son Ludovicus Pius, the Othos, Conrads, Frederics, and Henrys,
and last of all, Sigismund, have, with all labour and diligence, travailed ; being
stirred thereunto undoubtedly through the zeal and charity which they bear
unto Almighty God, and thankfulness to Christ for his benefits which he hath
bestowed upon mankind, and especially for the benefit of his most bitter —
passion. For Christ became not poor for us, that we should live in all riot and
wantonness upon his patrimony, and show forth our ambition and covetousness ;
neither did he suffer hunger, that we should glut up ourselves ; nor suffered la-
bours, chastity, and grievous torments, that we should live in idleness, wanton-
ness, and all kind of voluptuousness. Neither they who were contributors, and
benefactors to churches, enduing the ministers thereof with their temporal
riches, had any such respect herein, that the clergy shoidd live only in idle-
ness, having all things at their will, without labour. Surely there was another
cause, why they in times past did impoverish themselves and theirs, to endow
the church : verily, that they might the better attend unto divine service
without care of want of living (which they might easily get and gather out
of the fields, woods, meadows, and waters), and to the intent that they
should liberally give alms unto the poor Christians, widows, orphans, aged and
sick persons. For, in the institutions of the canonical profession, which we
suppose were written by the commandment of Ludovicus Pius the emperor,
and allowed by the council of the bishops, thus it is read; ' The goods of the
church,' as it is alleged by the fathers, and contained in the chapters before,
' are the vows of the faithful, and patrimony of the poor. For the faithful,
through the ferventness of their faith and love of Christ, being inflamed, having
an earnest desire of that heavenly kingdom, have enriched the holy church
with their own goods, that thereby the soldiers of Christ might be nourished,
the church adorned, the poor refreshed, and captives, according to the oppor-
tunity of time, redeemed.' Wherefore such as have the administration of those
goods, ought diligently to be looked upon, that they do not convert them unto
their own proper use, but rather, according to their substance and possibility,
they do not neglect them, in whom Christ is fed and clothed. Prosper is also
of the same mind, affirming that holy men did not challenge the church goods
to their own use, as their own proper goods, but as things commended unto the
poor, to be divided amongst them : for that is to contemn that which a man
possesseth ; not to possess a thing for himself, but for others ; neither to covet
the church goods with covetousness to have them himself, but to take them with
a godly zeal to help others. That which the church hath, is common to all
those who have nothing, neither ought they to give any thing of that unto them
(saith he) who have of their own ; for to give unto them who have enough, is
but to cast things away.1
To return now to the order of popes, where we left before, speak- The order
ing of Innocent VIII. After the said Innocent, next succeeded pope of pope6-
Alexander VI. ; in which Alexander, among other horrible things,
this is one to be noted : that when Gemes (Peucer nameth him Denies)
brother to Bajazet the great Turk, was committed by the Rhodians
to the safe custody, first of pope Innocent, then of Alexander VI., for
whose keeping, the pope received every year 40,000 crowns ; yet, The popP
notwithstanding, when pope Alexander afterwards was compelled to P°is™e"i
send the said Gemes to Charles VIII. the French king, for a pledge,
because the French king should not procure the great Turk's favour
by sending his brother Gemes to him to be slain, he (pope Alexan-
der), being hired by the Turk, caused the said Gemes to be poisoned,
who, in his journey going toward the French king, died at Terracina.2
Moreover, it appeareth, that this Alexander, taking displeasure
with the aforesaid Charles, the French king, about the winning 01
(l) Ex lllyrico. '2) Ex Paulo Jovto lib. ii. Ex Peucero lib. iv. El Hieronym Mario.
Gemes,
the'I'urk's
brother
](J EPIGRAMS OX I'OPE JULIUS II.
Bam Naples, Bent to Baiazet, the Turk, to fight against the aforesaid
Chiles.'
\.H Munstcrus,2 declaring the aforesaid history of G ernes something
1 1:':' otherwise, first calleth him Zizymus, and saith that he was first com-
£, mitted by (In- Rhodians to the'French king ; and when Johannes Hu-
. aforementioned, did labour to the French king to have him,
thinking by that means to obtain a noble victory against the Turk, as
raiLt i* was not unlike, this Alexander the pope, through his fraudulent
flattcrv, got him of the French king into his own hands, by whose
k<! means the said Gcmes afterwards was poisoned, as is in manner before
expressed.
Unto these poisoned acts of the pope, let us also adjoin his mali-
Mand- cious wickedness, with like fury, exercised upon Antonius Mancinellus ;
which Mancinellus, being a man of excellent learning, because he
. wrote an eloquent oration against his wicked manners and filthy life,
* with other vices, he therefore commanded both his hands and his
tongue to be cut off, playing much like with him, as Antonius the
tyrant once did with Marcus Cicero, for writing against his horrible
r.'isnn litb. At length, as one poison requireth another, this poisoning pope,
wi'lh'ted as he was sitting with his cardinals and other rich senators of Rome
,,uUon. at (imner? h^ servants unawares brought to him a wrong bottle, where-
with he was poisoned, and his cardinals about him.
ThchiRh In the time of this pope Alexander also it happened (which is not
iV;;'!',,"'^. to be pretermitted), how that the Angel, which stood in the high top
thrown of the pope's church, was beaten down with a terrible thunder ; which
order of thing seemed then to declare the ruin and fall of the popedom. After
this pope, next succeeded Pius III. about a. d. 1503; after whom
came next Julius IT., a man so far passing all others in iniquity, that
Weselus, and such others of his own friends, writing of him, are
(•(impelled to say of him, " Marti ilium quam Christo deditiorein
fuissc ;"" that is, That he was more given to war and battle, than to
Christ. Concerning the madness of this man, this is most certainly
known, that at what time he was going to war, he cast the keys of St.
Peter into the river Tibur, saying, that forasmuch as the keys of
Peter would not serve him to his purpose, he would take himself to
the sword of Paul. Whereupon Philip Mclancthon, amongst many
others, writing upon the same, makcth this epigram :
" Cum contra Gallos bellum papa Julius esset
Gesturus, sicut fama vctusta docet:
Ingentes Martis turmas contraxit, et urbem
Egrcssus esevaa cdidit ore niinas.
I rat usque sacras claves in rlumina jecit
Tibridis, hie urbi ]><ms ubijunget aquas.
fade manu strictum vagina duipit ensem,
Exclamansque truci talia voce rcfert:
' J lie gladius Pauli noa nunc defendet ab lioste,
Quandoquicleni clavis nil juvat ista Petri.' "
Whereupon also Gilbert Ducherius makcth this epigram.
" In Galium, ut fama est, helium gesturus acerbtini,
Armatum cducil Julius urbe manum.
di Ei itii-.onjiu Mario. (2) Lib. ♦. ' eusinograph.'
popes.
THE WAES AND BLOODSHED OF POPE JULIUS 11. 17
Accinctus gladio, claves in Tibridis amnem p Herny
Projicit, et saevus talia verba facit : ri1-
Quum Petri nihil efficiant ad praelia claves, j^ ry
Auxilio Pauli forsitan ensis erit."
1503.
The sense of these epigrams in English, is this : —
When Julius pope against the French
determined to make war,
As fame reports, he gathered up
great troops of men from far ;
And to the bridge of Tibur then,
marching as he were wood ;
His holy keys he took and cast
them down into the flood.
And afterward into his hand
he took a naked sword,
And shaking it brake forth into
this fierce and warlike word :
• This Sword of Paul, ' quoth he, ' shall now
' defend us from our foe ;
' Since that this key of Peter doth
' nothing avail thereto.'
Of this Julius it is certainly reported, that partly with, his wars, The wars
partly with his cursings,1 within the space of seven years, as good as bloodshed
200,000 Christians were destroyed. First, he besieged Ravenna °f p°Pe
against the Venetians, then Servia, Imola, Faventia, Forolivium,2 Bo-
nonia, and other cities, which he gat out of princes'1 hands, not with-
out much bloodshed. The chronicles of John Sleiden make mention,
that when this Julius was made pope, he took an oath, promising to
have a council within two years. But when he had no leisure there-
unto, being occupied with his wars in Italy among the Venetians, and
with the French king, and in Ferrara, and in other countries, nine of
his cardinals, departing from him, came to Milan, and there appointed
a council at the city of Pisa ; amongst whom, the chief were Ber-
nardus, Cruceius, Gulielmus Prenestinus, Franciscus, Constantinus,
with divers others ; unto whom also were adjoined the procurators of
Maximilian the emperor, and of Charles the French king. So the a council
council was appointed a.d. 1511, to begin in the kalends of Septem- jjeposV0
ber. The cause why they did so call this council, was thus alleged, llim-
because the pope had so broken his oath, and all this while he gave The pope
no hope to have any council ; and also because there were divers other P*rJured-
crimes, whereupon they had to accuse him. Their purpose was to
remove him out of his seat, the which he had procured through bribes
and ambition. Julius, hearing this, giveth out contrary command-
ment, under great pain, that no man should obey them, and calleth
himself another council against the next year, to be begun the nine-
teenth day of April. The French king, understanding pope Julius
to join with the Venetians, and so to take their part against him,
convented a council at Turin, in the month of September, in which
council these questions were proposed :
Whether it was lawful for the pope to move war against any prince
without cause.
(1) The pope's law eiveth leave to kill all that be accursed of him.
(2) "Forolivium," Forli. in Italy.— Ed.
VOL. IV.
|S •lill' BEGINNING OF THE Ti'llKS.
lunry Win ther any prince iii defending himself, might invade his adver-
. Barv, and deny his obedience.
\ !».
1503. (•„,,, „],;,.], questions it was answered, that the bishop ought not
to invade, a...! also, that it was lawful for the king to defend himself.
. Moreover, thai the pragmatical sanction was to be observed through
the realm of France: neither that any unjust excommunications
ought to be feared, if they were found to be unjust
No .in-
I'lIlllllU-
fi-.inii.
The
Turks
After this, the king sent to Julius the answer of his council, requir-
ing him either to agree to peace, or to appoint a general council some
other where, where this matter might be more fully decided. Julius
would neither of these, but forthwith accursed Charles the French king,
with all his kingdom. At length at Ravenna, in a great war, he was
overcome by the French king; and at last, after much slaughter,
and great bloodshed, and mortal war, this pope died a.d. 1518, the
twenty-first day of February.
artje ^tftocp of tf)e teftf.
If it were not that 1 fear to overlay this our volume with heaps of
foreign histories, who have professed chiefly to treat of Acts and
Monuments hut- done at home, I would adjoin after these popes
known above rehearsed, some discourse also of the Turks'1 story; of their
StaB*1'*" rising and cruel persecution of the saints of God, to the great annoy-
ance and peril of Christendom; yet, notwithstanding, certain causes
there lie, which necessarily require the knowledge of their order and
doini:-, ami of their wicked proceedings, their cruel tyranny and bloody
victories, the ruin and subversion of so many christian churches, with
the horrible murders and captivity of infinite Christians, to be made
plain aiul manifest, as well to this our country of England, as also to
other nations.
rir!>t First, for the better explaining of the prophesies of the New
'"'s'' Testament, as in St. Paul's Epistle to the Thessalonians, and also in
the Revelation of St. John; which scriptures otherwise, without the
opening of these histories, cannot so perfectly be understood: of
which scriptures, we mind hereafter (Christ granting) orderly, as the
course of matter shall lead us, to make rehearsal.
s,r,„„i Another cause is, that we may learn thereby, either with the public
church to lament, with our brethren, such a great defection and decay
of christian faith, through these wicked Turks; or else may fear
thereby our own danger.
The third cause, that we may ponder more deeply with ourselves
the scourge of God for our sins, and corrupt doctrine; which, in the
sequel hereof, more evidently may appear to our eyes, for our better
admonition.
i..iirih Fourthlj : The consideration of this horrible persecution of the
Turks, rising chiefly by our discord ami dissension among ourselves,
may reduce us again from our domestical wars, in killing and burning
one another, to join together in christian patience and concord.
Fifthly : But chiefly, these great victories of the Turks, and un-
• I of our men fighting against them, may admonish
and teach us. following the example of the old Israelites) how to seek
THE HISTORY OK THE TURKS. 19
for greater Strength to encounter with these enemies of Christ, than ham-
ln'therto we have done. First, we must consider that the whole power du
of Satan, the prince of this world, goeth with the Turks ; which to Jjj^™
resist, no strength of man's army is sufficient, but only the name, eemay to
spirit, and power of our Lord Jesus the Son of God, going with us w1u."outd
in our battles ; as among the old Israelites the ark of God's covenant JJJJ*
and promise went with them also fighting against the enemies of God. aptfnst
For so are we taught in the Scripture, that we christian men have no Turks,
strength but in Christ only. Whether we war against the devil, or
against the Turk, it is true that the Scripture saith, "Sine me nihil
potcstis facere," that is, " Without me you can do nothing." Other-
wise there is no puissance to stand against the devil, or to conquer the
world, " nisi fides nostra,11 that is, "our faith only," to which all the pro-
mises of God touching salvation be annexed ; beyond which promises
we must not go, for the word must be our rule. He that prcsumeth
beyond the promises in the word expressed, goeth not, but wandereth
he cannot tell whither : neither must we appoint God how to save
the world, but must take that way which he hath appointed. Let us
not set our God to school, nor comprehend his Holy Spirit within our
skulls. He that made us without our council, did also redeem us as
pleased him. If he be merciful, let us be thankful. And if his
mercies surmount our capacity, let us therefore not resist but search
his Word, and thereunto apply our will ; which if we will do, all our
contentions wrill be soon at a point. Let us therefore search the will
of our God in his Word, and if he will his salvation to stand free to
all nations, why do we make merchandise thereof?1 If he have
graciously offered his waters to us, without money or money-worth,
let us not hedge in the plenteous springs of his grace given us.2 And
finally, if God have determined his own Son only to stand alone, let
not us presume to admix with his majesty any of our trumpery. He
that bringeth St. George or St. Denis, as patrons, to the field, to
fight against the Turk, leaveth Christ, no doubt, at home.
Now how we have fought these many years against the Turk, though
stories keep silence, yet the success declareth. We fight against a
persecutor, being no less persecutors ourselves. We wrestle against
a bloody tyrant, and our hands be as full of blood as his. He killeth
Christ's people with the sword, and we burn them with fire. He,
observing the works of the law, seeketh his justice by the same : the
like also do we. But neither doth he, nor do we, seek our justifica-
tion as we should, that is, by faith only in the Son of God.
And what marvel then, our doctrine being as corrupt almost as his, Rcfnrma-
and our conversation worse, if Christ fight not with us, fighting against JeTi'Jon
the Turk ? The Turk hath prevailed so mightily, not because Christ jj^1*
is weak, but because Christians be wicked, and their doctrine impure, fight the
Our temples with images, our hearts with idolatry arc polluted. Our Turks'
priests stink before God for adultery, being restrained from lawful
matrimony. The name of God is in our mouths, but his fear is not
in our hearts. We war against the Turk with our works, masses,
traditions, and ceremonies: but we fight not against him with Christ,
and with the power of his glory ; which if we did, the field were won.
(1J Gratis venumdati eslis, t;ratU rcrlimimini. Esay Hi.
(2) Omnes sitiertes venite ad aquas; emite absque argento et commutation*. Buy lv.
c2
turn ne-
c««Miy,
20 THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
i»ir.,. Wherefore, briefly to conclude, saying my judgment in this behalf,
d'"'""' what I suppose. Tins hope 1 have, and do believe, that when the
Ma ehmch of Christ, with the sacraments thereof, shall be so reformed,
that Christ alone shall be received to be our justifier, all other re-
ligions, merits, traditions, images, patrons, and advocates set apart, the
■word of the Christians, with the strength of Christ, shall soon vanquish
the Turks1 pride and fury. But of this more largely in the process
of this story.
The sixth and last cause, why I think the knowledge of the Turks1
history requisite to be considered, is this: because that many there
be, who, for that they be further from the Turks, and think therefore
themselves to be out of danger, take little care and study what hap-
Kame»t peneth to their other brethren. Wherefore, to the intent to excite
their zeal and prayer to Almighty God, in this so lamentable ruin of
Christ's church, I thought it requisite, by order of history, to give
'.,'uch this our nation also something to understand, what hath been done in
other nations by these cruel Turks, and what detriment hath been,
and is like more to happen by them to the church of Christ, except
vc make our earnest invocation to Almighty God, in the name of his
Son, to stop the course of the devil by these Turks, and to stay this
defection of Christians falling daily unto them, and to reduce them
■gain to his faith, who are fallen from him: which the Lord Jesus of
ce grant with speed ! Amen.
Before we enter into this story of the Turks and Saracens, first let
us call to remembrance the prophecy and forewarning of St. Paul
writing to the Thessalonians [2Thess. ii.], in these words: " Be not
moved or troubled in your minds, either by preaching or by writing,
or l.y letter from us, as though the day of the Lord were at hand ; for
the Lord will not come, except there come a defection first, and the
wicked person be revealed,'11 &c. Of this defection, sundry minds
there be of sundry expositors ; some thinking this defection to mean a
T^rhc, fidling-away from the empire of Rome: some, from the obedience of
the pope. But, as St. Paul little passed upon the outward glory of
the Roman empire; so less he passed upon the proud obedience
the pope. What St. Paul meant by this defection, the reading of
these Turkish stories, and the miserable falling-away of these churches
by him before planted, will soon declare.
Another mystery there is in the Revelation [Apocal. xiii.], where
the number of the beasl is counted six hundred and sixty-six. Whereby
may seem, by all evidences, to be signified the first origin and spring-
ing of these beastly Saracens, as by the sequel hereof may appear, by
the first rising of this devilish sect of Mahomet.
• a "-T- Moreover, anotl
tint I
- • ■
ter place there is [Apocal. xvi.], where we read,
•y pouring out of the vial of God's wrath by the sixth angel, the
P*1 ,I",m| Euphrates was dried up, to let in the kings of the east;
■ opening of which prophecy may also more evidently appear, in
considcnng the order and manner of the coming in of "these Turks
into Europe.
Borne also apply to the Turks certain prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel
and other p] ices of the ( Md Testament, which here I omit, forasmuch
M the prophecies of th< Old Testament, if they be taken in their
THE HISTORY OP THE TUUKS. 21
proper and native sense, after my judgment, do extend no further Intro-
than to the death of our Saviour, and to the end of the Jews1 king- ducl'""-
dom. Albeit herein I do not prejudicate to any man's opinion, but
that every man may abound in his own sense.
As touching the year and time when this pestiferous sect of Ma- The time
hornet first began, histories do not fully consent, some affirming that ^JJ^JJ"
it began a. d. 621, and in the tenth year of Heraclius, the emperor false
of Constantinople; in which mind is Johannes Lucidus. As Mun- expounu-
sterus counteth, it was a.d. 622. Martin Luther and John Carion ed'
refer it to the eighteenth year of the reign of Heraclius, which is a.d.
630, unto which number the computation of the Beast, signified in
the Apocalypse, doth not far disagree, which numbereth the name of
the beast, with three Greek letters ^, £, <r ; which Greek letters, after
the supputation of the Grecians, make the number of 666.
In this all writers agree, that this damnable Mahomet was born in Maho-
the country of Arabia, bordering on the east part of Jewry. His Xe'stock
father was a Syrian, or a Persian ; his mother was an lshmaelite, which ?',the .
r i i- i ■ i p a i • ii i tt Ishmael-
lshmaeiitcs, being a people of Arabia, were called then Ha«arenes : ites, of
- \ Arabia.
Prodi-
gious lies
how he, making himself the highest prophet of all others, yet denieth pigmies
not Christ to be a holy prophet, and next to him, and Moses also to Alcoran,
be another. Moreover, he denieth not Mary, the mother of Christ,
to be a virgin, and to have conceived Christ by the Holy Ghost :
affirming further, that Christ in his own person was not crucified, but
another called Judas for him. He greatly commendeth also John,
the son of Zachary, for a virgin, when he himself permitteth a man to
have four wives, and as many concubines as he is able to find ; and Maho-
saith, that whereas Christ and other prophets had the gift given them A^oraii
to work miracles, he was sent by force of sword, to compel men to ^Jjfled
his religion. The prodigious vanities, lies, and blasphemies contained divers
in this law called Alcoran, are rather to be laughed at, than recited.
It is thought that Sergius, a Nestorian, was a great doer with Ma-
homet, in contriving of this lying Alcoran ; and so it doth well
appear by the scope and pretence thereof, which especially tendeth to
this end, to take the divinity from the person of Christ, whom he
granteth notwithstanding to be a most holy man, and also that he is
received up to God, and shall come again to kill Antichrist, &c.
Moreover, this ridiculous Alcoran is so blanched and powdered with
such divers mixtures of the Christians, Jews, and the Gentiles'1 laws,
giving such liberty to all wantonness of flesh, setting up circumcision,
abstaining from swines1 flesh, and judaical lotions, and so much
standeth upon father Abraham, that this filthy Alcoran is supposed of
some, not to be set out in the days of Mahomet, but that certain Jews
had some handling also in this matter, and put it out after his death ;
and so it seemeth first to take its force about the number of years
limited in the Apocalypse, as is aforesaid, where thus it is written :
" He that hath intelligence, let him count the number of the beast;
for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred
and sixty-six.v'
After this devilish Mahomet had thus seduced the people, teaching
them that he came not by miracles, but by force of sword to give
Damas-
cus sub-
dued by
..i Persia
sulxlued
HISTORY OF Tl!i'. TURKS,
:ai(1 to* tlK.v who Mill not obey it must cither be put to
death, or else pay tribute (for so be the words of the Alcoran) ; and
after that 1,.- had gathered strength about him of the Arabians which
Arabians had then occasion to rebel against the emperor, because
their stipends were not paid them by the officers ot the emperor
Heraclius, he began to range with force and violence m the parts ot
Syria bordering near unto him, and first subdued Mecca, then Da-
mascus ; and further, increasing in power, he entered into Egypt, and
idued the same. From thence he turned his power against the
Persians with whom Cosroes, the king of Persia, encountered with a
puissant army, overthrew the Saracens, and put Mahomet to flight.
i, these Persians came the Turks, who, afterwards joining with the
Saracens, maintained them against the Christians.1
A Iter the death of this beast, who, as some say, was poisoned in
hi. house, succeeded Ebocara, or Ebubccer, his father-in-law, or, as
Bibliander ailirmcth, his son-in-law, who took upon him the govern-
in, mi of the Saracens, and got the city Gaza, and besieged also
Jerusalem two years. He reigned two years, having for his chief
city Damascus.
After him followed Omar or Ahumcr, who conquered a great part
of Syria, and got Egypt.
The fourth king of the Saracens, after Mahomet, was Othman ;
■•,11 followed Hali, and after him Muhania : who, after a siege of
Beven years, obtained and got the christian city of Caesarea; also
overcame the Persians, with their king Orimasda, and subdued that
law.
Thus the wicked Saracens, in the space of thirty years, subdued
Arabia, <,fot Palestine, Phoenicia, Syria, Egypt, and Persia, which
«.i!ne directly to the (i(ib* years prophesied of in the Revelation of
St. John, as is aforesaid. And not long after they proceeded further,
and n"t Africa, and then Asia, as in the process of their story shall
appear, the Lord willing.
Not long after Heraclius, emperor of Constantinople, succeeded
Constans, his nephew, who, in the thirteenth year of his empire,
lighting unluckily against the Saracens in Lycia, was overthrown of
Muhanias aforesaid, a. d. 655; which Constans, if he were not
prospered by the Lord in his wars, it was no great marvel, consider-
ing that he had slain his brother Theodosius before at home ; more-
over, that hi' lived in incestuous matrimony : also that, being inclined
to certain new sects, he could not abide the contrary teachers, but
. .-lew those who admonished him thereof. The said Constans, going
afterwards to Italy, was also overcome by the Lombards,2 &c. The
ens, after this victory, spoiled also Rhodes.
Although these cursed Saracens, in these their great victories and
' [UestS, were not without domestical sedition and divisions among
■< -. yel the princes of the Saracens, being called then sultans,
had m their possession the government of Syria, Egypt, Africa, and a
pari oj Via, about the term of four hundred years; till at
length the Saracen king who ruled ill Persia, lighting against the
- racen of Babylon, sought aid of the Turks, to fight with him
■gainst the sultan of Babylon: which Turks, by little and little,
I.1) M in iK i i . .iimn His proipuelh not with the Lurd.
,thc
l.) them.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 23
surprised upon the sultan of Persia, and, not long after, putting him Mro.
out of place, usurped the kingdom of Persia; who afterwards went '/'"'"""'
further, as ye shall hear, the Lord willing. And this is the first
beginning of the Turks' dominion.
These Turks, after they had thus overcome many countries and The first
provinces, and made their power large and mighty both in Asia and [iiT* ot
Europe, began to divide their kingdoms and countries amongst them- Tmks-
selves. But when they could not agree, but with deadly war con-
tended for the bounds of those kingdoms and dominions, in the mean
time four of the principal families, conquering and subduing all the
rest, parted the whole empire amongst themselves. And yet they The
also, not so contented, fell to such cruel hatred, contention, war, and J^s
slaughter (no doubt by the just judgment of God against his bias- nion*
phemous enemies), that there was no end thereof, until the remnant Pntofour
of the ancient Turks was utterly rooted out. For it is evident that lamilies-
there are few now remaining, who are Turks indeed by birth and
blood, and that the state of that great empire is not upholden, but
by the strength and power of soldiers, who have been Christians,
and now are turned to Mahomet's religion ; so that even their own
natural language is now out of use amongst them, saving in certain
families of their nobility and gentry.
These four families above-mentioned, with their captains and
armies, about a. d. 1330, went raging throughout all Asia and
Europe, and every one of them conquered some part of the countries
where they passed.
The causes of these great invasions and victories, were the dissen- Dissen-
sion and discord, falsehood, idleness, inconstancy, greedy avarice, lack ^^
of truth and fidelity, among christian men of all states and degrees, tians
both high and low. For, by the wilful defection and backsliding of TariL
the Christians, the Turkish power did exceedingly increase, in that stro,1t»'-
many, desiring the licentious life and liberty of war, and allured with
the prosperous success of things, forsook the church of God, and
made themselves bondslaves to Mahomet, and his devilish sect ; both
because fleshly liberty is delighting to all men, and partly also be-
cause as fortune favoureth, so commonly the wills of men incline.
And again, such as be profane and without the fear of God (whereof
there is an infinite number in the church in all ages), arc wont com-
monly to judge of religion, according to the success of realms and
kingdoms. For many, not only for the variety of opinions, but also
for the diversity of events and fortune amongst men, have inquired
and do inquire, whether there be any church of God distinct from
other nations ; what it is, and where it is : especially, forasmuch as
the greatest part of men, both in the old time (when the four monar-
chies flourished in order) were ignorant of this doctrine, which is
peculiar to the church alone, and now also the barbarity of Mahomet
prevaileth and reigneth in the most part of the world. And how
standeth this with mans reason, that a small number, both miserable
and also enfeebled and broken with many battles, should be regarded
and loved of God ; and the others, flourishing in all wealth, pro-
sperity, victories, authority, and power, should be rejected and
despised of God, seeing there is no power and authority, but by the
ordinance of God ? Albeit therefore the power of the Turks hath
the
Turki'
inonli-
pirc.
yi HHTOKY OF THE TURKS. THEIR RISING.
M»» been, for these two hundred years, of greater force than any other
1 monarchy of the world besides, vet is there no imperial dignity to be
. iteemed in that Turkish tyranny, but amongst those nations only,
5£w where the heavenly doctrine of the gospel is preached, and other d.s-
t ^"h" eiriines necessary for the church of God, and the common hie ot man
' mStained and regarded ; where the laws of God, and other honest
"""" nd civil ordinances agreeable to the same, do flourish and reign ;.
where lawful judgment is exercised; where virtue is honoured and
rewarded; where sin and wickedness is punished; where honest
families are maintained and defended.
These things are not regarded amongst the Turks, the enemies of
the Son of Gad, and all lawful empires, because they dissolve and
reject all godly societies, honest discipline, good laws, policies, right-
eoufl judgment, the ordinance of matrimony, and godly families.
F,,r what hath the empire of the Turks been hitherto, but most
deadly, cruel, and perpetual war, to work all mischief, destruction, and
desolation? to subvert good laws, cities, kingdoms, policies, and to
enlarge their cruel power and dominion ? the stay and strength
« hereof is not love and favour, proceeding of virtue and justice, as in
lawful and well governed empires; but fear, violence, oppression,
swarms and infinite thousands of barbarous and most wicked people,
ministers of Satan's malice and fury': which kind of dominion and
tyranny hath been condemned by the voice of God many years ago ;
the testimonies whereof the Lord would have to remain in the church,
lest the godly, being moved with the power and success thereof,
should fall away and forsake the Son of God.1
christian Wherefore, let us not seek for any imperial state in that barbarity;
tauand mit h'1 M 1n' thankful, and acknowledge the great benefit of God, for
mniiis [hat he hath reserved to us certain remnants of the Roman empire :
b"'h°>ed and let us call upon him daily, with hearty petitions and groans, and
iel!*' with zeal and love to the house of God, that this Turkish power,
fb?™,ng j"'m'd with the malice of Satan against the Son of God, prevail not
whom against the poor congregations and little remnant of his church, as it
,S '"' hath hitherto done against those strong and noble christian kingdoms
»p«red. anj ghujcheg, where now we see the Turkish tyranny to reign, and
Satan to have taken full possession ; whose state was once far better
than ours is now, and more like to continue without such horrible
overthrows and desolation. Oh that we might foresee a little the
great danger that hangcth over our heads ! For though the Turk
meth to be far off, yet do we nourish within our breasts at home,
that which may soon cause us to feel his cruel hand and worse, if
Worse may be: to overrun us; to lay our land waste; to scatter us
amongst the infidels, the enemies and blasphemers of the Son of
Qod !
Now, although these four families above-mentioned long continued
together in bloody wars and deadly hatred, yet one of them passed
the rest in all cruelty and tyranny, and subduing the other three
families, took iii)i)i) him the government alone, and so became the
lir^t monarch or emperor that reigned amongst them, called Ottoman ;
<>t whom all that reigned after him were called Ottomans: who,
ling orderly of his line, have occupied the same dominion and
(1) Ezck xxx. ■;.: Apoc \t/
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 25
seat of the Turks, from the year of our Lord 1300, unto this present ottoman
time, who have been the number of twelve; of the which twelve, in o?"/hm.
such order as they lived and reigned, I intend (Christ so permitting) ~~
severally and compendiously something to treat, briefly abstracting,
out of prolix and tedious writers, such specialties, as for us Christians
shall be briefly requisite to be known.
OTTOMAN, THE FIRST GREAT EMPEROR, OR TYRANT, OF THE
TURKS. A. D. 1300.
This Ottoman was at first of poor estate, and obscure amongst the
common sort of men, coming of a base progeny, and of rustical
parents ; but through his valiantness and activity in war, he got him
a great name amongst the Turks. For he, being a man of fierce
courage, refusing no labour, and delighting in war, and gathering
together by great subtlety a multitude of common soldiers, began to
make war, and bv conquest and victories to advance himself and his
family. First, lie began to rob and spoil with a great band of rovers,
and afterwards he attempted to set upon all men. Neither did he
vex and destroy the Christians only, but set upon his own nation
also, and sought all occasion to subdue them wholly unto him ; for
now the princes and captains of the Turks, inflamed with ambition inward
and desire of rule, began to fall out and contend among themselves, among
insomuch that they fell to domestical and inward war, with all the ^huerks
power they could.
Ottoman, having this occasion very fit and meet to accomplish that The
which he long had sought for, gathering unto him all such as he Up™'fns
thought to be given to robbing and spoiling, and set all upon mis- 0ttom<">-
chief, in a short time began to grow in authority, and first set upon
certain towns, as he saw opportunity to serve him ; of which towns
some he took by force, some by yielding ; others he spoiled and over-
threw, to terrify the rest ; thus laying the first foundation of his
rising. In the mean time, the discord which was amongst the Chris-
tians was no small advantage to this Ottoman, by occasion whereof,
he, within ten years1 space, subdued Bithynia, and all the provinces
about Pontus : also Natolia, which comprehendeth all the dominion
of the Greeks within Asia ; Ancyra, a city in Phrygia ; Synope, a
city in Galatia ; and Sabastia, a city in Cappadocia. And thus still
prevailing, he increased in short time to a mighty power, either
through the secret judgment of God against that nation, or else
because God would have them so far and so cruelly to prevail, for
the punishment of the sins of other nations, like as it was prophesied
before, that such a kingdom there should be, of Gog and Magog.1
This Ottoman, after he had reigned twenty-eight years, died a.d.
1327, and departed to his Mahomet; leaving behind him three sons,
of whom Orchan, being the youngest, killed his two brethren, whilst
they were at variance between themselves.
ORCHAN, THE SECOND EMPEROR OF THE TURKS.
Orchan, the youngest of the sons of Ottoman, after he had slain
his two brethren, took the regiment of the Turks after his father ;
(I) Ezek. xxxv iii.
T11K HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
Orckm who, after he had drawn to Lim the hearts of the multitude, such us
a. had their dispositions set upon the licentious life of war, converted
lis power further to enlarge his father's dominion, winning and sub-
limit My.sia, Lydia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, and Caria: all which coun-
tries, being within the compass of Asia, unto the sea-side of the
■
subdued
Tur'ks Hellespont, and the sea Euxinc, he added to the Turkish empire.
Also he won Prusia, which was the metropolitan city of Bithynia,
which then he made the chief seat of the Turks1 empire. Besides
these, moreover, he conquered Nicea, and got Nicomedia : all which
civil wm were before, christian cities and regions. And yet all this could not
make the christian princes in Greece to cease their civil wars, and to
Gradam. j()ju ;iI1(] accord among themselves: such debate and variance was
then between Cantaguzen, on the Greeks1 part, and Paleologus, the
r> (he emperor of Constantinople. By reason of this, the Turks'1 aid was
: .nt for out of Asia, to help our Christians one to kill another, and
'_ "^ tl,c at length to get all those parts of Europe from them both ; who, if
Increaie. tliev had, according to their profession, so well joined in brotherly
unity, as thev did in cruel hostility dissent, neither had Orchan so
prevailed in getting Prusia from the Greeks, nor had the Turks so
soon presumed into Europe as afterwards they did. Orchan, after
these victories, when he had reigned two-and-twenty years, was
stricken, some say, with a dart in the shoulder, at the siege of Prusia.
The opinion of others is, that he, fighting against the Tartarians,
where lie lost a great part of his arrnv, was there also slain himself,
a.u. 1349.
AMURATII. THE THIRD EMPEROR OF THE TURK'S.
Amiimth
The Greek writers do hold that Orchan had two sons, Soliman and
Amurath, of which two, first Soliman reigned, albeit not long. After
1,10 him followed Amurath, who, after that Asia now was subdued by his
predecessors, sought by all means and ways how to proceed further,
and to invade Europe: to whose ambitious purpose the domestical
wars of the Christians gave unprosperous occasion, which occasion is
nnt thus declared. Certain discord fell between the princes of Greece
ih?Turk« (whose captain was Cantaguzen), and Paleologus, emperor of Con-
stantinople : whereupon Paleologus, for that he was not able to make
Ins party good with the Grecians, most unwisely sent for Amurath,
to help him, who, being glad to have such an occasion offered, which
he so lone had sought, sent to aid him 12,000 Turks into Thrace :
but first he used all delays lie could of crafty policy, to the intent
that the Greeks Erst should waste their strength and power upon
themselves, whereby he might be more able afterwards to set upon
them, and to accomplish his conceived desire.
The Turks thus being called into Europe by the Christians, whether
they, tasting the sweetness of the soil, incensed Amurath, (heir em-
)" I'M, to make invasion, or whether Amurath, of his own head, thought
8* "l| .'" "-' the time, in the year of our Lord 1363, he came himself
ov( r into Europe with 60,000 Turks, railing upon the Greeks, being
pasted and spenl with their long ware and battles before. The pretence
• < thedeviligh Turk was to aid and assist the emperor Paleologus,
,tl" &« ' bi would "i no, and to subdue such as had fallen from him.
THE HISTORY OV THE TURKS. 27
The christian ships of the Ligurians, for money were hired to conduct Aumeih
them over, taking for every soldier a piece of gold.1 js','j"[,-t.
Thus the Turks1 army, being conveyed over by the Grecian sea *
called the Hellespont, first got Callipolis, with other towns and cities
bordering about the sea; and there planting themselves, and pre-
paring ships of their own for transporting their munitions out of Asia,
advanced their power further into Thrace, and there won Philipopolis ; Thrace
then got Adrianople, which was not far from Constantinople ; and there gJJjuiS
Amurath made his chief seat. Then began Paleologus, the emperor,
at length to bewail his offer and covenant made with Amurath.
When the Turks had expugned thus a great part of Thrace, they
extended forth their army unto Mysia, which they soon subdued : The
from thence proceeding and conquering the Bessi and Triballi, they ]^ts
entered into Servia and Bulgaria, where, joining battle with Lazarus j£to.
Despota, prince of Servia, and with other dukes of Dalmatia and
Epyrus, they won of them the field, and put them to the worse ;
where Lazarus Despota, being taken and committed to prison, ended
his life. This Lazarus had a certain faithful client or servant, who, ^X'tu-
to revenge his master's death, with a bold courage, although seeing ™*er
death before his eyes, yet ventured his life so far, that he came to Duath of
the tyrant, and thrust him through with his dagger. This Amurath Amurath.
reigned twenty-three years, and was slain a.d. 1372.
BAJAZET, THE FOURTH EMPEROR OF THE TURKS.
The power of the Turks began to increase in Europe, what time
Bajazet, the first of that name, after the death of his father, entered
the possession of the Turks1 kingdom. This Bajazet had two
brethren, Soliman and Sauces ; which Sauces had his eyes put out by
his father, for striving for the kingdom. Soliman was slain by his
brother. Thus Bajazet, beginning his kingdom with the murder of
his brother, reduced his imperial seat from Prusia, a city of Bithynia,
unto Adrianople, intending with himself to subdue both Asia and
Europe to his own power. First he set upon the Servians and Bui
garians, thinking to revenge his father's death ; where he gave the
overthrow to Marcus Despota, with all the nobility of the Servians Marcus
and Bulgarians, and put all those parts under his subjection, unto the siaiTby
confines and borders of the Illyrians. All Thrace, moreover, he {}'tl;Jrul'k-
brought likewise under his yoke, only Constantinople and Peru christian
excepted. That done, he invaded the residue of Greece, prevailing con-'
against the countries of Thessalia, Macedonia, Phocis, and Attica, qui;red-
spoiling and burning as he passed without any resistance ; and so,
returning with innumerable spoil of the Christians unto Adrianople,
lie laid siege to Constantinople the space of eight years, and had corwtan
expugned the same, but that Paleologus, being brought to extremity, S^,,
was driven to crave aid of the Frenchmen, and of Sigismnnd tin- eight
emperor, who, being accompanied with a sufficient power of French-
men and Germans, came down to Hungary, and toward Servia, against
the Turk. Bajazet, hearing of their coming, raised his siege from
Constantinople, and with 60,000 horsemen, came to Nicopolis,
where he, encountering with them, overthrew all the christian army,
(I) E.\ PeUMI ft alii.;.
TT1K IMs'IOUY OK THE TURKS.
ami took John, the captain of the French power, prisoner. Sigismund,
^ who before, in the council of Constance, had burned John Huss and
"•Jerome of Prague, hardly escaped by flying. Bajazet, after the
thrown victory got, carried away duke John, with five others, in bands, into
ToAm. I'rusia, where, before his face, he caused all the other christian
prisoners to be cut in pieces. Afterwards the said John, being ran-
somed with 200,000 crowns, was delivered. Some authors refer this
-ton to the time of Calepine, as followeth hereafter to be seen.
Bajazet, the cruel tyrant, after this victory won, and tyranny showed
upon the Christians, returned again to his siege of Constantinople,
fully bending himself to conquer and subdue the same ; which thing
no doubt he had accomplished, but that the providence of God had
Tinwr- found such a means, that Tamerlane, king of Parthia, with a hundred
itirred up thousand horsemen, and swarms of footmen, like a violent flood
1 overrunning Asia, and pressing upon Syria and Sebastia, had taken
uieChrJs-.Ortliobules, the son of Bajazet, prisoner, and afterwards slew him,
exercising the like cruelty upon his prisoners as Bajazet had done
before upon the Christians, insomuch that he spared neither sex nor
age of the Turkish multitude ; of whom he caused twelve thousand,
at one time, to be overridden and trodden down under his horses1
Bqjuet feet. By reason of this, Bajazet the tyrant was enforced to raise his
■iegefrom siege from Constantinople, and to" return his power into Asia; where
SnoSS" ,H>* near tl,c m11 ca]1(xl Stella> pitched his tents there to encounter
with Tamerlane.
The fight between these two was long and great on both sides,
which was a. d. 1397, and the second year after the slaughter of
.!' '.-rr '.',„• °UI (-^r'st'ans at Nicopolis in Pannonia. But the victory of this
'i';'t.'1'""' battle fell to Tamerlane at length, in which, as Munsterus writeth,
nerijue, were s|am £00,000 Turks ; among whom Bajazet the tyrant, having
his horse slain under him, was taken prisoner, and, to make a spec-
a'cnui" taele of his wretched fortune, he was bound in golden fetters, and so,
paawa. being enclosed in an iron grate (whom, before, all Greece could not
hold), was led about and showed through all Asia, to be scorned and
laughed at ; and, moreover, was used instead of a footstool to Tamer-
lane, or a block, as often as he mounted upon his horse. Some add
also, that he was made like a dog to feed under Tamerlane's table.
The tyranny of this Bajazet against the Christians, as it was not much
unlike to the cruelty of Valerian the Roman emperor above men-
tioned, so neither was the example of his punishment much discrepant ;
for, as Sapor, king of the Persians, did then with Valerian, in the
tuned the eighth persecution of the primitive church, so likewise
was Bajazet, tins persecutor, worthily handled by Tamerlane, king of
the Parthians, as in manner above-said.
'.;• >> ^ Tamerlane, after this conquest, passed with his army into Mesopo-
tamia, Egypt, and all Syria, where he, victoriously subduing the cities
jnd .Munitions of the Turks, at length also conquered Damascus. In
Ins sieges Ins manner was. the firet day to go all in white attire, the
second -lav ,„ ,cd. the third day in black, signifying thereby mercy
the tirsl day, to them that yielded; the second day the sword; the
Hurt day lire and ashes. At last, alter great victories, and spoils
gotten ot the Turks, he returned into his country aeain, and there
died, A.I.. I |<) J. ' &
THE HISTORY OK THE TURKS 2i)
Sebastianus Munsterns, writing of this Tamerlane, recordeth that 8<$avt.
lie had in his army 200,000 men : and that he overcame the Parthians, c„""?,„:
Scythians, Iberians, Albanians, Persians, Medes, and conquered all
Mesopotamia : and after he had also subdued Armenia, passing over
the river Euphrates with 600,000 footmen, and 400,000 horsemen,
he invaded all Asia Minor, conquering and subduing from the flood
Tanais1 unto the Nile in Egypt, and was called ' terror orbis,1 the
' terror of the world.1'2 He left behind him two sons, who, falling
in discord for their possessions, lost all again that their father got.
In the mean time Bajazet, in the second year of his captivity, died, a genera-
leaving behind him divers sons, Jesus or Joshua the eldest, Mul-ti.onuf
suman, Moses, Celebine or Calepinc, Jesus the younger, Mustapha,
and Hali, of whom, first Jesus the eldest was overcome and slain of
Mulsuman, which Mulsuman afterward was delivered to Moses his
brother, and by him was slain likewise ; which Moses had also the
like end by his brother Calepine, having his neck broken with a bow-
string, which was then the usual manner among the Turks in killing
their brethren. The same Calepine, sparing only the life of Mustapha
his brother, condemned him to perpetual prison. Jesus the younger
was baptized, and shortly after departed at Constantinople. In these
such discords and divisions among the Turks, what occasions were
given to the Christians to have recovered again of the Turks, what
they had lost, if they had not been either negligent, or in their own
private wars otherwise occupied with themselves !
CALEPINE, THE FIFTH EMPEROR OF THE TURKS.
Calepine or Celebine, was the son of Bajazet, and of four brethren
the eldest ; who being all taken captives by the Parthians, he only
escaped and obtained his father's kingdom. This Calepine, en-
couraged by the sloth and negligence of the princes of Europe, and
by the discord of the Greeks among themselves and other nations
near about them, long troubled and vexed the Bulgarians, Servians,
and Macedonians, even to the time of Sigismund. This Sigisnmnd,
seeing now Bajazet to be overcome and taken by Tamerlane, and the
power of the Turks weakened in Europe, and having such occasion
ofFered him, as it were from heaven, to destroy and utterly to root
out, not only out of Asia, but also all Europe, that barbarous nation,
and cruel enemies to the name and religion of Christ: and also to
revenge the great slaughter and discomfiture of his army fighting
before with Bajazet at Nicopolis, a city in Mysia ; with great power
made war against Calepine, at Columbatium, a town in Servia, as is
also before-mentioned ; but as unluckily, and with as little success,
as he did before against Bajazet his father : for in that battle were
slain of the Christians to the number of twenty thousand, and the rest over-
utterly discomfited, the. king himself escaping so hardly, that he entered ^"* of
not again into his kingdom for the space of eighteen months after. "»imI-
Some write that this was done under Bajazet ; others refer this battle to against
Amurath ; but, howsoever it was, most pernicious was it to the Chris* ^lk
tians.3 He reigned but six years, and died very young, a. n. 1404.
(1) Tanais is the uttermost flood in the north side, and the Nile the uttermost Hood on the south
6icie of Asia.
(2) Ex Seb. Munstero Cosmograph , lib. iv.
l«) Some stories record this conflict to he aftei the time of this Turk.
I
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS,
ituJumti
and
Amurath.
ORCHAN-, AND MOSES HIS UNCLE, THE SIXTH AFTER OTTOMAN.
lltj in
hiitoriei
After the captivity of Bajazet above-mentioned, histories diversely
do dissent. The Greek writers, making no mention at all of Cale-
pine ; only make mention of the sons of Bajazet, and of the contention
among them, until the time of Mahomet. The Latin stories, writing of
the children of Bajazet, and of their succession, do not therein agree ;
• nine affirming, that Bajazet had two sons, Orchan, surnamed Cale-
pine, and Mahomet his brother, who within two years slew the said
Calepine, and entered his dominion. Others attribute to Bajazet
more sons ; as is above-rehearsed. Some again do give to Bajazet
only these two sons, Celebine and Mustapha ; and hold that Cale-
pine or Celebine had two sons; to wit, Orchan and Mahomet: and
add. moreover, that the said Orchan, being somewhat young, was
Murder slain by his uncle Moses, who governed but two years : for Mahomet,
1 to revenge his brother's death, slew Moses, and invaded his dominion.
murder. The Greek stories make no mention at all of Orchan.
Walla-
laulted
b] Ma
hornet.
The
Turk's
teal
al Ailrl
wople.
MAHOMET, THE SEVENTH EMPEROR OF THE TURKS.
This Mahomet, whether he was the son of Bajazet, or else of
Calepine, converted to himself alone the kingdom, or tyranny rather,
of the murdering Turks, who afflicted the Christians with sore wars
within Europe, especially the country called WaJlachia, lying not far
from the flood Danube, between Hungary and Thrace. From thence
he removed into Asia, where he recovered divers parts in Galatia,
l'ontus. ( 'appadocia, and Cilicia, which before Tamerlane had alienated
from the Turks. This Mahomet planted his chief imperial seat
in Adrianople, not far from Constantinople, within the country of
Thrace. In some writers the conflict between Sigismund and'the
great Turk, wherein the Christians were so discomfited, is referred
rather to this Mahomet, than to Calepine; of which conflict mention
is above made in the story of Sigismund. This Mahomet reigned,
as some say, fourteen years, and died a. d. 1419: others affirm
•seventeen years.
Amu
AMI-RATH, THE EIGHTH EMPEROR OF THE TURKS.
Amurath, as Philelphus saith, was the son of Celebine : as Laoni-
cus Chalcondilea testifieth, of Mahomet. Whose son soever he was,
a wretched tyrant he was, and permitted as a scourge of Cod, to correct
the sins of the Christians. In the story of Bajazet mention'was made
before of Mustapha, his son. who was condemned to perpetual prison
by ( 'al.pine, his brother. This Mustapha, escaping out of his brother's
prison, was conveyed to the Greeks, where he remained long in
custody, till at length they, understanding the purpose of Amurathj
s t. him op with Bufficient habiliments and furniture of war, to 6ght
a..amsi the said Aiuuiath, his nephew. But, in conclusion, he being
not able to make his party good, came into the hands of his enemy,
and had his neck broke with a bow-string, after the manner of the
1
THE HISTORY OF THE TUKKS. 31
The Greeks then terrified with this sinister adversity', required truce Anamtk
of the Turk; but, when that would not lie "ranted, they procured ti^
unto them Mustapha, the other brother to Amurath, being of the ^^dcT
age of thirteen years ; who likewise, being armed of the Greeks, got etii his
the city of Nice in Bithynia, from Amurath, his brother. Albeit it was Amu'""'
not long but he was circumvented in the same city, and brought to ^.^
Amurath ; who caused him likewise to taste of the same whip, as the *•
other Mustapha had done before. Amurath, being now out of all Thrace
fear and doubt of brethren and kinsfolk to rise against him, converted ^the
all his power against the Greeks : and first ranging throughout Thrace, Turt
where divers cities yielded unto him, which before belonged to the
emperor of Constantinople, from thence he set forward to the noble
and famous city Thcssalonica, being then under the league and pro-
tection of the Venetians. This Thessaloniea is a city in Greece,
bordering upon Macedonia, to the citizens whereof St. Paul writeth,
foreshowing unto them, in his second epistle, of a defection to come
before the coming of the day of the Lord [2 Thess. ii.], of which The de-
apostasy or defection what the holy apostle doth mean, this story of ™^"
the Turks may easily declare. After Thessaloniea was subdued, jf^?*-
Phocis, with all the country about Athens, Boeotia likewise, iEtolia, ciared.
Acarnania, with all the region beyond Peloponnesus, unto the coast
of Corinth (to which St. Paul also wrote two other epistles), were
brought in bondage and slavery unto the Turk.
In Epyrus, and in that quarter that adjoineth to Macedonia named croia
Albania, reigned then one Johannes Castriotus; who, perceiving him- theTurk.
self too weak to match with the Turk's power, made with the Turk ^'o™'
this convention, that, he should have Croia, a famous city in Greece, Cast™
and also gave to him his three sons for hostages : to wit, Constantino, ^ with
Reposius, and George.
In this George such towardness of noble courage, such vigour of
mind and strength of body singularly did appear, that the Turk caused
him more freely to be instructed after the Turkish religion and manner
in his own court; where he, being traded up, did so shoot up as well
in feats of activity, as in strength of body, that he excelled all his
equals ; insomuch that he was named ' Scanderbeius,-1 which soundeth
as much as ' Alexander Magnus.'1
After this Alexander was grown up to mature ripeness of age, and valiant
was well trained up in feats of war, he was sent out by the Turk, to scander-
war against Caraman of Cilicia, the Turk's enemy. In that ex- be,us-
pedition he sped himself most manfully, fighting hand to hand, first
with a footman of Scythia, then with a horseman of Persia, being
challenged by them both to encounter, first with the one, after with
the other ; whom he so valiantly overthrew, that he won great renown
with the Turk : insomuch that he, trusting to the Turk's favour, when
he heard of the decease of his father, durst ask of the Turk the grant
of his father's dominion to be given unto him ; which request scande*.
although Amurath the Turk did not deny him, yet notwithstanding, ^eth
perceiving the matter to be dallied out with fair words, he by subtle™*^
means and policy slipped out of the Turk's court, and came to Eyprus Turk, hu
his own inheritance, where first by forged letters he recovered Croia. lul
The other cities, of their voluntary mind, yielded themselves unto
him ; who then, gathering unto him the people of Epyrus and Mace-
THE HIST0KV OF THE TURKS.
Amurath
Amu
rath'
donia (who were not bo many in number, as with good willing minds
they stuck unto him), so manfully and valiantly behaved himself, that
against all the puissance both of Amurath, and also of Mahomet, he
■"■ maintained his own, repulsed their violence, and put to flight their
armies many years together. But, to return again to the course of
Amurath's victories : after he had thus prevailed (as is before signified)
against the east parts of Europe and Greece, and had convented thus
for the dominion of Epyrus, he invaded Illyricum (otherwise called
now Sclavonia), containing in it Dalmatia, Croatia, Istria, and Li-
bumia : which countries after he had spoiled and wasted, he continued
his course to Albania and Bosnia; of which regions, when he had
subdued a great part, and had led away an innumerable multitude of
captives, be moved further to Wallachia and Servia, upon hope to
conquer all Pannonia.
There reigned at the same time in Servia a certain prince, named
An un
«o«y Georgius Despota, who made great suit to the Turk for truce and
Miu peace, promising to give his daughter to marriage ; for by the Turk's
num1 til's law they marry as many wives as they list. It was not long after
totto* Amurath had "married the daughter of Despota, but he, contrary to
Turk. ),is league and promise, made war upon Despota his father-in-law, and
expelled him out of his kingdom, taking from him divers cities, as
Scopia, Novomonte, Sophia, and all-Mysia. George himself fled into
Hungary, leaving behind him his son, to defend the town of Sin-
deronia. Amurath, understanding of the flight of Despota, his father-
in-law, compassed the city of Sinderonia with a strong siege,
Cradtj which when he in few days had expugned, he took his wife's brother,
Tu'i'lf. the son of Despota, and without all regard of mercy and affinity, after
the barbarous tyranny of the Turks, put out his eyes with a bason
red hot before them; and, after that, led him about with him in
derision, in spite of his cowardly father.1
Servia heing thus won and gotten, Amurath, thinking to go further
bj*t2i into Hungary, besieged the city called Belgrade, and no doubt had
1 "rk- also suppressed the same, had not the providence of God found means,
that partly through slaughter of his men, partly for lack of victual
and other forage, he was compelled to raise his siege and retire.
johinnei In the mean time Johannes Huniades (of whom mention was made
VaiToda. before) had got great victories against the Turkish power, and had re-
covered part of Servia, and all Moldavia ; against whom Amurath the
Turk, with a mighty army, moved into Pannonia. But Huniades, with
the power and aid of Ladislaus, king. of Poland (but especially by the
power of the Lord), did soon infringe the puissance of the Turk, and
gave him the overthrow, recovering unto the Christians the greatest
part of Servia and Bulgaria.
1 n this battle, Huniades had five sundry conflicts with the Turks on
, one day, and with five victories put them to the worse, and toward night
did BO discomfit and overthrow the great captain of Amurath, called
the Baasa, duke of Anatolia (which is otherwise named Asia Minor),
/ that be slew of the Turks that day to the number of thirty thousand.
•I;;;;i'"'k' Amurath, although he was not a' little thereat discouraged, yet dis-
Uuown. m niblmg his Tear with stout countenance, sent for Carambeius, his
principal staj and captain, with a new power brought out of Asia to
I I ' Ebriltoph. ltichfr'.n (i;illo, et Gasp. Pcuc. et aliic
THE HISTORY OK THE TUKKS. iY.i
assist him in his wars. This Carembeius, in the Downs of Tran- Amurath.
sylvania, Ladislans the aforesaid king of Poland (the Lord so working) Another
through the industry of Johannes lluniades, so received and with ™h£
such celerity oppressed him unprovided, that all his stout and "i;uks-
sturdy army either was slain downright, or else put to flight and
disparkled, Carambeius the captain being himself taken prisoner in
the same field.
These victories of Huniades struck no little terror to Amurath, The great
insomuch that for distress of mind be was ready to destroy himself, bought
as some do write; but, being confirmed by Hclibcus Bassa, his ,.'.' &* !at
counsellor, he kept himself within the straits of mount Khodope,
who then, hearing that Caraman invaded the same time the country
of Bithynia, and Pontus in Asia, was glad to take truce with Ladis- He seek-
laus and Huniades upon such conditions as they listed to make of the"8
themselves : which conditions were these, that Amurath should depart {j^"
clearly from all the region of Servia, and should remove from thence
all his garrisons, which were placed in the castles and forts of the
same ; also he should restore George Despota (which is to say, prince
of Servia), unto his possession, and set his children free, whom he
had in captivity, and restore them to their inheritance. Item, that
he should make no more claim nor title to the country of Moldavia
above mentioned, nor to that part of Bulgaria which he had lost ;
and that he should desist hereafter from all wrongs and injuries Truce
against the Christians. Upon these conditions the Turks being between
agreed, so was a truce concluded on both parts tor ten years, and ten years,
with solemn oath between them confirmed.
This done, Amurath the tyrant addresseth himself toward Asia, Amurath
to resist the invasion of Caraman aforesaid ; at which time pope into Asia.
Eugene, so soon as he heard the Turk to be returned into Asia, The
sendeth Julianus Caesarianus, his cardinal (whose storv is before v°ve's
touched), unto Ladislaus the aforesaid king, with full dispensation tion ana
and absolution to break his oath and league with the Turk ; pro- uon"
raising, moreover, great hope and aid, if he would go in arms stoutly abused-
against the tyrant.
Here by the way is to be noted, that as there is no truth of pro- His rash
mise in that pestilent see of Rome, neither was there ever any war pemi-
prospered, which was taken in hand by the pope's council : so was christen.
there never any council of the pope that brought with it more detri- do1"-
ment to Christianity than this. But the pope belike thought, that
as he might lawfully break promise with John Huss, and with other
Christians, so also he needed not to observe any league or truce
taken with the Turk ; but it turned much otherwise than the pope's
blind brains imagined, as by the sequel is to be seen.1 For Ladis- ^itc.,h
laus, being thus excited by the unadvised and sinister instigation truce
of pope Eugene, contrary to the truce established a little before, tween the
set out with his army from Seledinus, and so proceeding to Walla- ^"- \U1(1
chia and Bulgaria, came to Varna, a town of Bulgaria, where he fell l»u 'l'urk
sick.
It was not long but the Turk, having thereof intelligence, left his
wars begun with Caraman in Asia, and with great journeys made
(1) Nothing prospereth that is taken in hand by the pope's setting on.
VOI,. IV. D
THE HISTORY OV THE TURKS.
, Europe, passing over by the straits neat to Callipolis,
_ where all the Italian navy still looking on, and whether of purpose,
oi whether tor cowardliness, would not stir one oar to stop the passage
of the Turkish army. When Amurath was come to Adrianople in
Thrace, using such celerity as no man looked for, within eight days
lie was in Bulgaria, and there encamped himself against Ladislaus.
The day of battle being set, the armies joined on both sides. Hu-
niades Teas himself there present, but all the matter was ruled by
Julian the cardinal, and the pope's clergy. The fight continued three
and three nights together, with great courage and much blood-
Amnmth. ^ ^ ^ ^ . ^g^^ t]iat t}ie fie](i did stand with lakes of
blood. It seemed at first to incline to the Christians, by breaking
ThePo- the first ranks of the Turks ; but the priests and prelates who were
at the field (who had been more fit to have been in the church),
: ig the Turks to begin to fly, unskilfully left their array to pur-
tSeiSeid. sue the enemy, so that they, leaving the other standings of the.
Christians naked, gave great advantage to the Turks, with their darts
and shot to disturb the Christian ranks, by which occasion Amurath,
enclosing the Christians with his army round about, obtained the
victory ; in which field, Ladislaus, the young king of Poland, having
his horse first killed under him, was stricken down and slain. The
AiuUh- P()PCS bishops, flying to save themselves, fell into the marshes, and
meat were there destroyed, sustaining a dirty death, condign to their filthy
falsehood and untruth. Julian the cardinal, who with the pope was
,"ltan the chief doer in breaking the league, in the way was found dead,
being full of wounds, and spoiled to his naked skin. Of the rest of
thL-'war. the army that escaped by flying, part were drowned in the marshes,
some perished miserably for hunger, some for cold; watching and
HuniadM wandering in the woods. Huniades hardly escaped the danger, by the
Mcapeth. nim.j|ui providence of God being reserved to the further profit and
commodity of Christendom.
Hlawor- This John Huniades, the worthy warrior, Avas born in Wallachia,
menST" being earl of Bistrice, of all captains that ever went against the
tion. Turks most famous and singular; prudent in wit, discreet in council,
expert and politic in war, prompt of hand, circumspect before he at-
tempted, quick in expedition : in whom wanted almost no good pro-
perty requisite in a warlike captain. Against two most mighty and
fierce tyrants, Amurath and Mahomet, through the Lord's might, he
defended all Pannonia, and therefore was called the thunderbolt, and
the terror of the Turks. Like as Achilles was unto the Grecians, so
was he set up of God to be as a wall or bulwark of all Europe against
the cruel Turks and enemies of Christ and of his Christians; nei-
ther Mas there any king or prince that ever achieved such noble
victories, either so many in number, or so profitable for the public
utility of all Europe, as did he; and that not only in the days of
this Amurath, but also of Mahomet his successor, as hereafter remain-
ed) further to be seen. This battle of Amurath against the Christians,
M.1'"' :il ^arna m Bulgaria, was fought a.d. 1404.
^ Amurath. by reason of this victorious overthrow against the
Christians, surprised with no small pride, directed his journey in-
1 continent toward the Grecians, where Castriotus was, otherwise called
QderbehiB. And first, coming to Peloponnesus, and breaking
THE HIST0B1' OF THK T( RKS. 89
down the wall about the straits of Corinth, he encountered with the Amvraih.
brother of the emperor of Constantinople, whom with his sudden coming
he oppressed, with all the Greeks1 army, ere they were provided.
Paleologus the emperor, after that, did build up the Mall again, but,
at the Turks1 bidding, he was compelled to undo it again ; which
wall afterwards the Venetians did repair. After the demolition ofsw
the wall, Amurath, entering into Peloponnesus, took divers towns and ^ulr'^'
cities, as Sycio, and Patris ; and moreover made all the parts of
Thessalia and Achaia tributaries unto thern.
The next year after this battle of Amurath, fought against the Memo-
Christians at Varna, the Turk, being now about the parts of Greece, ofsl-.u" '
purposed to bend all his force and main against the country of Epyrus derb^""
belonging to Georgius Castriotus Scanderbeius. Of this Scander- Amurath.
beius mention was made before, how he was brought up in the Turk's
court, from whence we declared also how subtilely he conveyed him-
self, and came to the possession of his own patrimony of Epyrus ;
which Epyrus,1 this noble and victorious Scanderbeius (whom the
Lord also had raised up the same time with Huniades, to bridle the
fury of the Turks) valiantly defended against all the power of Amu-
rath ; insomuch that he discomfited and vanquished seven of the Seven
most expert bassas or dukes of the Ottoman emperor, one after o'hIh"18
another, with all their armies of most picked and chosen soldiers, dis- Tu,rks
lodged them from their tents, and expulsed them utterly out of all by Scan-
Epyrus. Also when Amurath himself, with his whole puissance,
had environed about the city of Croia with cruel siege and ordnance
out of measure, yet, notwithstanding, the said Scanderbeius (through
the power and blessing of the Lord) beat him out of the field, and
repulsed him from the siege.
After this discomfiture, the saying is, that Amurath, to keep his Amurath
vow made before, after his victory at Varna, gave himself unto a re- hYs°uoRCS
ligious order, living a contemplative life with certain other priests l^1™011'
joined unto him, in the forest of Bithynia, renouncing the govern- m.aksc'h
ment of his realm to the hands of Hali, one of the princes ; for aTurW*
thou must understand, good reader, that the Turks also be not without ^10"k•
their sundry sects of religion, no more than we Christians arc without
our friars and monks.
In the mean time, while Amurath, this Turkish tyrant, was clois- Two
tercd up in his monkish religion, Johannes Huniades, in the kingdom warrior"
of Hungary, and Georgius Castriotus, in Greece, kept a great stir ^"d^
against the Turks. By reason whereof, Amurath was taken again J^J3^
from his monkish vow and profession, and brought again into the the
field : for first Huniades2 had rescued the whole country of Hungary, 'lurks'
and had propulsed moreover all the might of the Turks far from
Servia. And although the peevish practice of George, prince of
Servia, had oftentimes disclosed his councils unto the Turks, whereby
twice he was brought into danger, yet, notwithstanding, through the
Lord's gracious protection, he was preserved and delivered by the said
George unto the Hungarians again, and, after that, manfully van-
quished the Turks ; so that they had no resting-place about those parts
of Servia and Bulgaria, so long as he lived.
(1) This Epynis is a country in Orcein, bordering near to the part'; of Macedonia.
(2) This John Huniades is reported, of twenty battles with the Turk, to lose hut two.
D fc
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
.inwmih On the other wde, m Greece, Castriotus Scanderbcius so foiled the
vX'Lt Turk in defence of his country, Epyrus and Macedonia, and kept
' "'/■* Amurath bo Bhort, that not only he was not able to win any great
Kpyrus town in all Epyrus ; but also coming from Epyrus, in the straits he
was bo entangled by Castriotus, that he was forced to give battle : in
which battle ne was so vanquished, and most part of his army slain,
that, for grief and sorrow conceived, he, falling into a raving sickness,
Amurath vv.,^ transported out of his pavilion unto Adrianople, and there in
fury and madness died, after he had reigned thirty-four years, which
was about a.d. 1450.
Tins Amurath first ordained the order of the Janizaries, who were
the men-children of such Christians as he conquered and took captive ;
whom he forced to renounce the faith of Christ, wherein they were
baptized, and brought them up in Mahomet's law, and exercised them
in the same feats of war as he did his own people ; and after that they
came to man's estate, he named them Janizaries, that is to say, soldiers
of a strange country, and made them to guard his person. They
wear on their head, instead of a helmet, a white attire made of the
grossest sort of wool, and in so many folds about their head, that it
cannot be pierced with a sword. It hangeth down on the back with
a tail, and before, on the forehead, it is garnished with gold and silver.
They were wont to use bows and lances in the field, but now they
use dags, as our horsemen do.
At the first institution there were but eight thousand in their gar-
rison, but now there be twice so many. This, of all bondage and
servitude that the Christians suffer under the Turks, is most intolera-
ble, and greatly to be of all true Christians lamented. For what can
godly minds behold more to their grief, than to see their children
pulled from the faith of Christ, wherein they were baptized, and by
whose blood they should eternally be saved ; and to be instructed and
nourished with the blasphemous doctrine of Mahomet, and to be pro-
fessed enemies of Christ, and his church, to make war against Heaven,
Lament* and to perish everlastingly ? And finally, what a lamentable thing is
it, to see and behold our own children, born of our own bodies, to be-
men*8ian come our ni01'tal and cruel enemies, and to cut our throats with their
chdd'u mvn nan<k • r^ms servitude of mind is far greater than death itself;
Turk. "~ which if our princes would well consider, it would cause them the
rather to agree, and bend their whole force and power against this
cruel enemy.
MAHOMET THE SECOND, THE NINTH EMPEROR OE THE TURKS.
Amurath left behind him three sons, Mahomet, born of the daugh-
ter of Despota, prince ofServia, being twenty years of age, the second
son called Tuxcmes, the third named Calepine. This Turcines being
an infant, and but eighteen months old, was strangled at the com-
mandment of the Turk by his servant Moses, himself being there
present, and beholding the horrible murder. And when Moses, the
m§ executor of the murder, had desired him not to pollute his hands with
ruDjin the blood of his brother, he answered, that it was the manner of all
the Ottoman Turks, that all the other brethren being destroyed, none
brethren. Bhould be left alive but one, to govern &e empire : wherefore Moses
Mahomet
the ninth
emperoi
toman.
THE HISTORY OB THE TURKS. 37
was commanded by the tyrant, there presently, and in his sight, to Mahomet
kill the infant. This horrible fact when the mother of the child an- u'
derstood, she cried out, and almost mad for sorrow, cursed the tyrant
to his face. But he, to mitigate the rage of the mother, at her request,
being desirous to be revenged upon the executor of her son's death,
delivered the said Moses bound into her hands ; she then, in the
presence of the tyrant, thrust him to the heart with a knife, and
opening his side, took out his liver, and threw it to the dogs to be
devoured.
The third son, called Calepine, who was but six months old, the iiai.bassa
aforesaid Amurath,his father, commended to the custody of Hali Bassa, ta0u^tor
one of his nobles, who, to gratify and please the tyrant, betrayed the »»aster.
infant, and brought him unto him, and thereupon he, at the tyrant's pL°rTL-uu-
commandment, was strangled. Some affirm, that instead of Calepine, y|'tl"-'.
l-ii rr> i i i i ^ i ■ abomma-
another child was ottered unto the tyrant, and that Calepine was con- Me Turk.
veyed to Constantinople, and after the taking of Constantinople was
carried to Venice, and then to Rome to pope Calixtus, where he was
baptized, and afterwards came into Germany, to Frederic the emperor,
and there was honourably entertained, and kept in Austria during his
life : where note how the merciful providence of God, whom he list God's
to save, can fetch out of the devil's mouth. And note, moreover, Senceto
the aforesaid Hali Bassa, the betrayer of the infant, how he escaped JJjJJ^ )o
not unrevenged.1 For Mahomet, understanding him to be a man of Usteth to
great substance and riches, through forging of false crimes, with great sav
torments put him to death to have his riches : for this tyrant was
given to insatiable avarice. Thus this bloody Mahomet began his
regiment with horrible murder, after the example of other cursed
tyrants, his predecessors.
Although this Mahomet, notwithstanding that he came of a chris-
tian mother, being the daughter of Despota prince of Servia, and by
her was brought up and instructed from his childhood in the precepts
of christian religion and manners, yet he, soon forgetting all, gave
himself to Mahomet's religion ; and yet so, that he, being addicted to
neither religion, became an atheist, believing and worshipping no God
at all, but only the goddess of good fortune, irriding and mocking the
minds and judgments of men, who believe that God, by his provi-
dence, governeth and regardeth the state of human things on earth.
After this Mahomet had heard of the victories and conquests of
others his predecessors, and had understanding how Bajazet lay eight
years about Constantinople, and could not win it ; he, dispraising Ba-
jazet, and disdaining that so long time should be spent about the
siege thereof, and yet no victory gotten, bent all his study and device
how to subdue the same. But, first, having a privy hatred against
the city of Athens, and having his hands lately imbrued with the Mahomet
blood of his brethren, this murdering Mahomet, first of all. takethhis ^"hupon
viage to subvert and destroy the city aforesaid; being a famous Athens.
school of all good learning and discipline: against which city he did fliefury
so furiously rage, for the hatred of good letters, that he thought he J£""ity
ought not to suffer the foundation thereof to stand, because that city »"d
Was a good nurse, and fosterer of good arts and sciences. Wnerefbre Athene,
he commanded the city to be rased and utterly subverted; and where-
(1) Note here God's punishment upon the betrayer of innocent blood.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
soever any monuments or books eould be found, he caused them to
into dirty sinks, and the filthiest places of the city, or put to
the most vile uses that could be devised, for extirpating and abolish-
ing of all good literature: and if he understood any to lament the
and ruin of that noble place, those he grievously punished and
put to death.
i Thus the famous and ancient school of Athens being destroyed and
rverthrown, he returned his army and power into Thrace, Avherc, in
all haste, he, gathering his power together both by sea and land,
with a mighty multitude compassed the city of Constantinople about,
and began to lay his siege against it, a.d. 1453 ; and in the four and
fiftieth dav of the said siege it was taken, sacked, and the emperor
Constantino slain. As touching the cruelty and fierceness of the
Tnilcs in getting of this city, and what slaughter there was of men,
women, and children, what calamity and misery were there to be
seen, forasmuch as sufficient relation, with a full description thereof,
hath been made before, it shall be superfluous now to repeat the
Three same.1 This only is not to be omitted, touching three principal causes
' of the overthrow of this city; whereof the first was the filthy avarice
iiinu'of of those citizens, who, hiding their treasures in the ground, would not
employ the same to the necessary defence of their city. For so I
find it in story expressed, that when fche Turk, after the taking of the
city, had found not so much treasure as he looked for, suspecting with
himself (as the truth was) the treasures and riches to be hidden under
the ground, he commanded the earth to be digged up, and the foun-
dations of the houses to be searched: where, when he had found
treasures incredible, " What," quoth he, "how could it be that this
place eould ever lack munition and fortification, which did flow and
abound with such great riches as here are, and plenty of all things?1''2
The second cause was the absence of the navy of the Venetians,
which, if they had been ready in time, might have been a safeguard
inst the invasion of the enemies. A third cause also may be ga-
thered upon occasion incident in stories, either for that the city of
Constantinople, fifteen years before, did yield to the bishop of Rome,
as is before to he seen ; or else, because, as in some writers it is evi-
dent, the images were there received and maintained in their churches,
and by the Turks the same time destroyed.
Johannes Ramus, writing of the destruction of this city, amongst
Itueiax other matters maketh relation of the image of the crucifix, being there
in the high temple of Sophia; which image the Turk took, and wri-
ting this superscription upon the head of it, "Hie est christianorum
Dens," i.e. "This is the God of the Christians," gave it to his soldiers
to be Bcorned ; .and commanding the said image with a trumpet to be
'•airie.l through all his army, made every man to spit at it most con-
tumeliously. Wherein thou hast, good reader! by the way to note,
whal occasion of slander and offence we Christians give unto the bar-
, baroua infidels by this our ungodly superstition, in having images in
* our temples, contrary to the express commandment of God in his
Word I'm- if Si. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, saith, " We know
Christ now no more after the flesh ;" how much less then is Christ to
lie known of us in blind stocks and images set up in our temples,
i Rarao.lib rerum Turcicarum.
THE HISTORY OV THE TURKS. ,'>'.)
serving for no other purpose, but for the infidels to laugh both us and *
our God to scorn, and to provoke God's vengeance ? which by the _L_
like example, I fear, may also fall upon other cities, where such images
and idolatrous superstition are maintained ; whereof God grant Vienna Vienna
to take heed betimes, which hath been so long, and yet is, in such ,.'
great danger of the Turk, and polluted with so many images, and plain
idolatry !
In summa, to make the story short, such was the cruelty of these cruel
Turks in winning the city, that when Mahomet had given license to ™y th V
the soldiers three days together, to spoil, to kill, and to do whatso- J"^"
ever they listed, there was no corner in all Constantinople which did faopie.
not either flow with christian blood, or else was not polluted with
abominable abusing of maids, wives, and matrons, without all reve-
rence of nature. Of the citizens, some they murdered ; some they its la-
roasted upon spits ; of some they flayed off their skin, hanging them SsSmS*
up to consume with famine ; into the wounds of others they put salt, tio»-
the more terribly to torment them ; insomuch that one of them con-
tended with another, who could devise most strange kinds of new
torments and punishments, exercising such cruelty upon them, that
the place where the city was before, seemed now to be no city, but
a slaughter-house or shambles of christian men's bodies. Among the
dead bodies, the body also of Constantino the emperor was found ;
whose head being brought to Mahomet, he commanded it to be car-
ried upon a spear through the Avhole city, for a public spectacle and
derision to all the Turkish army. And because he would diminish the Bloody
number of the captives, which seemed to him to be very great, he never the Turk
rose from his table, but he put every day some of the nobles to death, {^$^5-
no less to fill his cruel mind with blood, than his body was filled with &"»•
v.ine ; which he used to do so long as any of the nobles of that city
were left alive. And of the other sort also, as the stories do credibly
report, there passed no day in which he did not orderly slay more
than three hundred persons ; the residue he gave to his rascal soldiers
to kill, and to do with them what they would : where is to be noted,
that as Constantino the son of Helena was the first emperor of Con-
stantinople, so Constantine the son also of Helena was the last
emperor thereof.
Not far from the said city of Constantinople there was another The city
little city called Pera, and once called Galatia, situated by the sea- yLuuTth,
side ; which, hearing of the miserable destruction of Constantinople, for fear-
and seeing the city flaming with fire, sent certain of their chief men
with speed to Mahomet, declaring unto him, that they neither had
sent any help to the city of Constantinople, nor yet wrought any de-
triment to any of his army : wherefore they desired and prayed him,
that as they would gladly yield unto him, so he would be favourable
unto them and spare them, and not punish the guiltless with the
guilty. Mahomet, although he was not ignorant that for fear, rather
than of any good will, they submitted themselves, and that they would
rather resist him, if they had been aide, yet he received for that time
the submission of the messengers : but, sending with them his am-
bassador into the city, he commanded also his army to follow withal,
and to enter with him into the city, which although it was greatly
suspected and misliked of the citizens, yet they durst nut otherwise
40 Till HISTORY OV THE TURKS.
MM ,1,,, but suffer tlu in to enter. This being done, the ambassador gave
"■ a ngn bo the soldiers, every man to do whatsoever he was bidden;
The city of whom some ran to the walls, some to the temples and churches,
: some to the streets and houses of the city, plucking all things down
to the ground, Backing and ranging with no less fury and abominable
filthiness, than they had done at Constantinople before, saving only
Dnmken that thev abstained from murder: but the same day letters came
uur'T' from Mahomet to the ambassador, that he would spare none, but
i'ru,lliM' destroy and murder all that ever were in the city: which message,
because it seemed to the ambassador to be too cruel, forasmuch as
they had yiejded themselves, he stayed his hand a little, until night
came, hi the mean time, drunken Mahomet, coming something to
himself (whom drunkenness had before overcome), sent his second
i letters to revoke the first. Where again is to be noted the merciful
^''alnc'"" providence of God towards his people in their deserved plagues, by
; staying the hands, and bridling the fury, many times of their enemies,
people. * when otherwise the case seemeth to be past all remedy.
cnnstan- Mahomet thus, being in himself not a little advanced and elevated
madethe °.v ^'c winning of Constantinople, where he had now made the impe-
imperjai rjal aeat ,.f the Turkish dominion, the third year next following, to
the Turk, adventure move masteries, set out to the siege of Belgrade, a city of
ofBei-ege Hungary, lying near to the banks of the Danube, thinking to have
grade. the like success there, as he had in the winning of Constantinople,
albeit, through the Lord's disposing, it fell out much otherwise.
Within the city of Belgrade, the same time of the siege thereof, was
Johannes Huuiades, the valiant captain, of whom in divers places
mention hath been made before; who with a sufficient strength of
picked soldiers, albeit in number nothing equal to the Turks'1 army,
valiantly defended the city with great courage, and no less success.
In this siege great diligence was bestowed, and many of the Turks
slain ; among whom also Mahomet himself, being stricken with a
pellet under the left arm, was fain to be carried out of the field for
hall' dead, and the rest so put to flight, that of the Turks the same
Portj time were destroyed to the number, or not much under the number,
gjjjjy* of forty thousand, besides the loss of all their ordnance, which the
•lata. Turks, in haste of their flight, were forced to leave behind them.
I I nron vnius Zieglerus, writing of the siege of this Belgrade, addeth
moreover, that when Mahomet was at the siege thereof, seeing the
tow,, to be so small and weak of itself, that it could not be won with
all his great multitude; he, staring and faring like a madman, com-
manded all his brazen pieces to lie laid, to batter down the walls and
towers of the town; so that the Christians within the Avails were
Vehemently distressed, for the siege continued both night and day
without intermission.1 Among the rest of the Christians who de-
•d the town, llieronvmus Zieglerus maketh mention of a certain
[Bohemian, much worthy of his condign commendation; who, being
upon the walls, and seeing a Turk with a banner or ensign of the
J;,,ry- ','"rl-- to be gotten up, by the sight whereof the whole town was in
danger to be conquered and taken, runneth unto the Turk, and
clasping him about the middle, speaking to John Capistranus, stand*
mg below, a ked him, whether it were' any danger of damnation to
Ulustrll mil Qexma. rai>. 98,
THE HISTORY OK THE TURKS. M
him, if he, of his voluntary mind, did cast himself with that dog (so Mahomet
he termed him) down headlong from the wall to be slain with him : L_
what should become of his soid, and whether he might be saved, or
not ? To whom when the other had answered, that he should be neifrrade
saved without doubt, he eftsoons tumblcth himself with the Turk defended
down off the wall ; where, by his death, he saved the same time the jJJJl018
life of all the city. Mahomet, being so wounded, and in despair of
winning the city, was carried (as ye heard) out of the field, who at
length coming again to himself, partly for fear, and partly for shame,
was ready to kill himself. And thus was the town of Belgrade at that
time rescued, through God's providence, by the means of Johannes
Huniades and this good Bohemian.
This siege of Belgrade began a.d. 1456, and endured six-and-
forty days, at which siege were numbered of the Turks two hundred
thousand, of whom more than forty thousand (as is aforesaid) were
slain ; where the victory fell to the Christians, through the prosperous
success given of God to Johannes Huniades, and Capistranus. This
Huniades, not long after the said victory, through the importune Decease
labour and travail in defending of the said town, was taken with a of johan-
sore sickness, and thereof departed ; to whose valiant prowess and nLW.'
singular courage, stories do give great laud and commendation.
Mahomet the Turk, after this done in Europe, returned into The
Asia to war with Usumcassan a Persian, one of the Turks1 stock, w™ks
with whom he had three battles. The first was about the river Eu- JgjJUJf
phrates, where the Turk lost ten thousand men, and was put to the san.
worse. In the second field, likewise, he was discomfited. The third
battle was at Arsenga, where, through the terrible noise of the brazen
pieces, the Persian horses disturbed the camp, and so was Usumcassan
overcome.
From thence the Turk reduced again his power against the Chris- The Turk
tians, and first subdued unto him Synope and all Paphlagonia : also um'.etiT
the kingdom of Trebisond, which he, besieging both by land and ^cSri»-
water, won from the Christians, and sent David the king of the same, tians.
with his two sons, and Calus his uncle, unto Constantinople, where
they were miserably and cruelly put to death, and all the stock of the
Conneni, who were of the king's stock, by the Turk were destroyed.
This was about a.d. 1459, at which time this mischievous Mahomet
was first saluted emperor.
Not long after, he got, from the Greeks, Corinth and Mitylene, dm-
not without great slaughter of christian men ; insomuch that the §£? Turk.
whole city of Mitylene was utterly to the ground almost destroyed.
The isles also of Lemnos and Lesbos he won from the Venetians ;
in which island of Lesbos is the city of Mitylene aforesaid.
Not far from this isle of Lesbos and Mitylene, there is a country Faisc-
in Asia, toward the sea-side bordering next to Europe, called Mysia, \[\'"\ ^k
or of some called Moesia, wherein stood the city of Troy. This spins'
country Mahomet, coveting to win rather by policy anil falsehood, of Mysia.
than by doubtful danger of war, secretly sent for the prince thereof, ^netty"
to come to speak with him for certain causes (as he pretended), that
would concern the profit and commodity of them both. Which
when the king of Mysia either lor shame would not, or for fear durst
not deny, he came to him, as if to confer upon necessary affairs in
•!•'
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
tukamd common US them appertaining. Mahomet, when he had brought
"■ that to pass which he would, caused the king to be .apprehended, and
cruelly to be .slain, or rather torn in pieces; and so, invading the
laud of Mysia, he exercised the like tyranny upon his kindred and
affinity.
This Mysia by fraud being taken and lost, Mahomet flieth again
?r<z£a' towards Europe, where he assailed the island of Euboea, otherwise
called Nigropbnte, making a bridge of a marvellous frame over the
sea Kuripus, to convey over his army out of Greece, and there laid
his Biege to the city Chalcis, which, at length, in thirty days he over-
crud came, not without a great slaughter of his army ; who, in the siege
thereof, is said to have lost forty thousand of the Turks. But the
T»rk slaughter of the Christians was greater ; for when the city was won,
the tyrant commanded, most cruelly, none to be spared within the
whole city, but to be put to the sword, whosoever was above the age
of twenty years.1 This cruelty was showed by the barbarous tyrant
for anger and fury, because such a number of his Turks were slain at
the siege thereof," being reckoned (as is said) to be forty thousand.
I,i the fierce siege of this city it is memorable what is in stories re-
corded, how that the women of that city, seeing the men begin to
women, fajnti .dlu\ the city to lie in present danger, took the matter them-
rending selves in hand, and playing the raen, went to the walls, and there
! '"• defended the city with no less trouble to the enemy, than the men
had before done ; and so for a space continued, as long as any man's
strength and diligence could do any good. A great cause of the loss
of this city and island, is imputed to the cowardly timidity of the
Venetians1 navy ; who, being there present, and having prosperous
wind, yet durst not, or would not adventure upon the Turks1 bridge,
which if they had done, the island of Eubcea, and Chalcis, had not
so soon been overmatched by the Turks.
Thus all the east parts of Greece being subdued to the Turkish
cant, with all Achaia, Attica, Acarnania, and Eubcea, shortly after
1 followed also Peloponnesus, brought into like subjection to the Turk.
Turk. 'Within Peloponnesus were these provinces contained, Achaia, Mes-
senia, Laconia, Argolica, and Arcadia, &c. The Venetians, in this
Peloponnesus, had great possessions, and had made up the wall again
towards the sea-side, near to the straits of Corinth before-mentioned,
where, for the more speed of the work, they had thirty thousand
workmen to the building thereof: which when it came to the know-
ledge of the Turk, he burst into the country of Peloponnesus with
an army of eighty thousand, and first wasted the regions of the
Coroneans, and Methoneans, and making a great slaughter of the
\ i netians, in short time brought the whole dominion of Pelopon-
ii'^us under his yoke and tribute.
Long it is, and more lamentable to recite all the victories of this
Mahomet, gotten against the Christians both by land and sea; who,
alter he had overcome the isle of Lesbos, above mentioned, and had
cruelly slain Nicholas Catalusius the prince thereof, turning his army
towards the sea Pontus Euxinus, got the country of Capha from
« the Genoese. Before was declared how truce was taken between
Qcorgius Scanderbeius and the Turk, for ten years; which truce
>D Ex Johanm
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 43
being expired, Mahomet leavcth no time unspent, no diligence un- MOumut
sought, but maketh all his power to Epyrus and Albania, -which lie, ! —
after long fatigation of siege, at length overcame and subdued ; in
the which tract also he Avon from the Venetians, Scodra, Lysson, anil
Dinastrum. Notwithstanding, when Scanderbeius, the valiant cap-
tain, had done against the Turk what in man's strength did lie, yet,
being overmatched with power and multitude, seeing no possibility
to make his party good, he was forced to depart his country as an
exile, and went to Italy ; and there, being sent for by the pope's
letters, he openly declared that it was not possible otherwise to resist Thecoun-
thc furious rage of the barbarous Turks by the strength of any one Icander-
king or prince, unless all Europe, with one consent, should join their J*?™' to
power and force together. And thus Georgius Scanderbeius, a man against
of puissant courage, being driven out of his country, continued his
age in exile ; whose courage and vehemency are reported to have been
such, that in fighting against the barbarous enemy, for very eager-
ness of spirit, his blood was seen to burst out of his lips. It is testi- a notable
fled also of him that being provoked, he neither denied to fight, nor ofdngu-
in his fighting ever turned his back, neither yet was ever wounded, ^ruragt;.
but only once with a light shaft in his foot, neither ever set against
the Turk with more than six thousand horsemen, and three thousand
footmen ; who is said, with his own hand to have slain above 2,000
Turks, whom with such violence he did strike, that many of them he
did cleave asunder from the head to the middle.
Neither yet was the insatiable greediness of that Turkish hell-
hound with all this satisfied, but still he conceived greater things in bis
mind, thinking to conquer the whole world; and so, passing forward
towards Europe, he subdued all Illyria, slaying Stephen, the king of*
Bosnia, about a.d. 1468. But afterwards Matthias Corvinus, the
son of Huniades aforementioned, recovered again the said kingdom
of Bosnia, with many other cities near unto Croatia and Dalmatia,
and moreover repulsed Mahomet the Turk, in his second siege of
Jaitza, taking his tents and munitions left behind him.
Moreover, the said Mahomet, passing unto Wallachia, set upon
Dracula, the prince thereof; which Dracula, although he had no
greater power of soldiers, yet he so enclosed and environed the
Turk, that he had almost lost his whole army, of whom a great part,
notwithstanding, was destroyed, and many of his ensigns taken. Into
Dalmatia were sent two captains of the Turk, who, fighting against
the provinces of the Venetians, made great spoil and waste about the
regions of Stiria and Carinthia ; where also the Venetian power was stiriannd
discomfited, and Hieronynms Novel, their captain, slain. At length SEenby*
truce was taken between the Turk and the Venetians upon this con- t!"-' Tuj*-
dition, that Scodra, Tenants, and Lemnos should be yielded unto
him, and that they should pay to him yearly, eight thousand ducats,
for the free passage of their merchants.
After this peace concluded with the Venetians, Mahomet himself
saileth over into Asia, sending two of his great captains abroad to
sundry places ; of whom, Mesithcs was sent against Rhodes with a
mighty navy: the other, called Acoinates Bassa, was sent into Italy i;
to tike Rome, and all the west empire. Concerning the viage of bMlege
which two captains, this was the event, that Masithes, after his great
a i
a
44, THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
travail, and bloodv siege against the Rhodians, was fain to retire at
length, with great "shame and loss. The other captain, Acomates (as
_ is mid), was sent into Italy with a navy of a hundred ships, and fif-
con- teen thousand men, who, by the way in his sailing, got Leucadia
ulTiarw. (which now they call St. Maure), Cephalonia, and Zacynthus, and,
sailing by Favclona, arrived in Apulia ; and so, passing along by the
Bea-side, spoiled and wasted divers parts by the coast, till at length
he came to Hydruntum, a city of Calabria in Italy, which, after long
siege, he overcame and subdued, and brought such a terror into all
The pope Italy, that the pope, forgetting all other things, yet mindful of him-
lf," with all haste fled out of Rome. After the city of Hydrun
"'l' lurk- turn was taken, and the Turks placed in the same, which was a.d.
I 481, Matthias Corvinus, Huniades1 son, was sent for by the Italians,
to Bet upon the said city ; unto the rescue whereof, when Acomates
was about to make his return with five and twenty thousand Turks,
in the mean time news came, that Mahomet, the great Turk, was
(had ; by reason whereof, the siege brake up, and the city was
delivered to the Italians again, and so was Italy delivered at that
time out of that present peril and danger. This Mahomet won from
the Christians two hundred cities, and twelve kingdoms, and two em-
pires,1 which he joined both together. He died in the year above-
said, a.d. 14S1.
BAJAZET THE SECOND, THE TENTH EMPEROR OF THE TURKS.
Mahomet aforesaid had three sons; of whom Mustapha the eldest,
through voluptuousness and carnal lust, died before his father. The
other two were Bajazet and Denies, otherwise called Zizimus ; about
whom great controversy arose amongst the Turks, which of them
should succeed in their father's kingdom: for neither of them was
present at Constantinople when Mahomet died ; Bajazet being in
Cappadocia, and Denies, in Lycaonia. Wherefore, when great dis-
sension was among the nobles for the succession, and great strife and
bloodshed for the matter, the Janizaries, who Avere the Turk's guard,
did proclaim Bajazet emperor: others, in the absence of Bajazet the
lather, did choose Corchuthus his son. Bajazet the father, coining at
length from Cappadocia, partly through yielding, partly by corrupting
with money, got the wills of the Janizaries, and was made emperor.
Denies, tin- other brother, being in Lycaonia, more near, although he
made no less speed in his coming, yet was prevented by Bajazet, and
B daui excluded out of Constantinople. Wherefore he, being put back from
thVmo ;i" hope of his kingdom, incited by some of his friends, moved war
gainst his brother; who, being overcome in three battles by Aco-
mates, Bajazet's captain, who had got Hydruntum before, did fly to
our the great master of the Rhodes, leaving, in a place called Came, his
mother ami two young children, whom Bajazet slew.
'I his 1 femes, being with the master of the Rhodes, was desired first
of pope [nnpcenl IV., then of Ludovic II. the French king, but espe-
cially of Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, intending by him to
obtain great victory against Bajazet. But, in conclusion, the knights
"! tli' Rhodes sent him to the bishop of Home, where he being kept,
1) Those two empire., were Constantinople anil Trapez&nde.
THE HISTORY OV THE TURKS. 45
and afterwards sent to Charles VIII., tlic French king, for a hostage &4>«i
of pope Alexander VI., was poisoned by the way of Terracina, by __
the said pope Alexander, as is before declared. After his death, fr^seon
Bajazet, to requite the aforesaid Acomatcs for his good service, put worthily
him to the halter, partly misdoubting his power, partly for lucre-sake peased.
to have his treasure : whose death redounded to the great profit of
the Christians, forasmuch as he was ever an utter enemy to the reli-
gion and name of Christ.
Bajazet, thus being confirmed in his tyranny, made his first expedi- chris-
tion against Wallachia, where he subdued two great forts, one called guMued*
Lithostomus, the other called Moncastrum. From thence he
his power, taking his viage into Asia, thinking to be revenged of the
sultan of Egypt, who had succoured and entertained before his bro-
ther Denies against him : where he lost two great battles, the one
fought at Adena, the other at Tarsus; but especially at the field at The Turk
Tarsus, the army of the Turk took such a wound, that of a hundred thrown
thousand brought into the field, scarce the third part remained un- atTarsua.
slain. But as touching the Rhodians, although they were succourers of
Denies aforesaid, yet Bajazet (whether for fear, or for subtlety,) ab-
stained to provoke them with war, but rather entreated with them the
league of peace ; requiring the master of the Rhodes to keep his bro-
ther safe under his custody, promising, for his yearly salary, to be
paid unto him every year in the month of August, 45,000 ducats.
Thus Bajazet, being overthrown and terrified with evil luck, fight- Dyra-
ing against the sultan of Egypt, removed from Asia, and directed his take™ by
army into Europe, where he got Dyrachium near unto Velona, andtheTurk-
had a great victory over the christian army in the country of Croatia,
where the Illyrians, Pannonians, and Croatians, joining their powers
together, encountered with the Turk, and lost the field, about a. d.
1493.
From thence the Turk, leading his army against the Venetians, The Turk
had with them divers and doubtful conflicts, where the Turk, some- *°",lst
times put to the worse, and sometimes again prevailing, out of Jadra ^'jj'-'"6"
and divers other cities about Dalmatia, earned away great multitudes
of Christians into captivity ; which was about a. d. 1498.
Two years after this (a. d. 1500), Bajazet, with 150,000 armed Peiopon-
men, entered into Peloponnesus ; which although Mahomet had ex- 2£3£
pugned before, yet the Venetians had defended Methonc, otherwise g™^
called Modon, all this while against the Turks. This Methone, Turk.
the Turk besieged with three armies, having about the Avails five
hundred great brazen cannons, whereof twenty-two were most violent
and hurtful ; wherewith he battered the city both day and night.
But the citizens who were within the city, committing themselves
to God, defended their city as well as they could, rather choosing to
die, than to yield to the Turk's tyranny. But the Turk prevailing,
and they not able to withstand the siege, the Christians con vented
together into a certain house prepared for the purpose, both men,
women, and children ; where they, setting the house on fire, gave
themselves rather to be burned, than to come into the tyrant's hands.
Certain women also, with their children, cast themselves headlong into &&£§
the sea, by that means to avoid the Turkish captivity. Some writers *«*£*•
there be, who affirm that the Methoncans, seeing five great ships of stroyed.
L6
HISTORY 01 -J11K TUKKS.
bm the Venetians coming with men and victuals toward them, issued
_Jl_ jown from the walls to the sea-side, to receive them, who were all
taken captives, being above the number of a thousand : who all, being
tied with long ropes, were brought before the tyrant, and in his sight
, cruellv slain, except certain nobles, whom Chcrseogles, son-in-
law to Bajazet, got to be pardoned, amongst whom was Andreas Gritto.
The city of Coron, and also PHus, cities in Greece, being terrified
ople of the Methonians, yielded themselves to the power
of the Turks. Crissrcum, otherwise called Caput Sancti Galli, was
expugned by Cherscogles, by force of guns.
latapdi These things thus achieved, although Bajazet went away victor
ato< lonstantinople, yet, notwithstanding, the Venetians, through the
Turk by ],,.],, 0f the kings of France and Spain, had won from the Turk, Ce-
phalonia, an island very commodious for their traffic. Also they had
ten other two islands, Lcucas and Nericus, otherwise called Sancta
Maura, slaving all the garrison of the Turks. But afterwards, peace
, Ik in- taken between the Venetians and the Turks, by the counsel of
. mi ieas Gritto aforesaid, the Turks so agreed, that Leucas and Ncri-
eiis. the islands abovesaid, should be rendered unto the Turk, and
the Venetians should keep still the possession of Cephalonia.
w«r »>»■ Unto this league the Turk did the rather condescend, for that he
had to maintain war against Ismaet Sophus in Asia, king of Persia ;
•
1 lMIS
Bajoset which Sophus was stirred up, by God's providence, to war with this
Bajazet, whereby the christian churches in Europe might have some
breathing-time, and freedom from the Turks1 cruel tyranny and blood-
shed. This Sophus was a valiant Turk, who, with great power and
victories, had overrun a great compass of the east parts of Asia ; then
passing from Assyria into Media, and returning again into Armenia,
lie made war against the Albanians, Iberians, and Scythians, and
from thence, coming into Asia Minor, encountered with Corchuthus,
Bajazet's son, and afterward coming to Bithynia, fought with Cara-
gius Bassa, Bajazets captain, whom he overcame and put to flight,
and afterwards took him alive, and his wife, prisoners. Afterwards he
was encountered by Hali Bassa, another captain of the Turks, whom
Techelles, one of the said Sophus1 captains, meeting in the plain of
•ih, Galatia, did withstand, and so by the way slew Caragius the captain,
captain ;tm' n:11 W(l n'ni U1)0U a P°le m the sight of Hali Bassa ; which Hali
-:<»■• Bassa short I v alter was slain in war, and his army scattered, and put
to flight.
Thus, through the admirable examplcof God's justiceandprovidence,
were these Turks kept occupied, and so came it to pass, that these
barbarians, being blasphemous against the Son of God, should thus
horribly run on to the destruction one of another, being worthily
punished with mutual slaughter and bloodshed, for their impiety and
blasphemy against Christ and his religion, whereby, in the mean time,
some rest was given to the Christians.
Bajazet, partly by these victories discouraged, partly diseased and
languishing of the gout, and partly also broken with age, finding
himself unwieldy to the regiment of that tumultuous kingdom, began
to have talk with his nobles about the choosing of one to succeed him.
' ',l *" '' '•'' ion whereof ministered much matter of inward wars amongst
tnr ' inks- This Bajazet had in all six sons, whereof three died
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 47
before him, and three yet were left alive : to wit, Acomates, Cor- ftfcud
eliuthus, and Selim. Bajazet himself had most mind to Acomates. _.
but the chiefest of his nobles did favour rather Selim > who, through
their traitorous incitation, provoked him to stir war against his father:
and, notwithstanding that he was overcome in war, yet, through inter-
cession, he was reconciled again to his father, and afterward pro- made
claimed again emperor against his father's will, through the help and 1™$"™
favour of the soldiers, entering the first be<jinnin<r of his kingdom !?'?, .
o ~ <j o lather s
with the murdering of his own father : the story whereof in some win.
authors is thus declared.
After the Janizaries had persuaded with Bajazet, for that he him-
self was unwieldy, therefore he should do well to constitute some
successor, and that he had assigned Acomates to succeed him, the
Janizaries being offended with the said Acomates, because he would
not enlarge their stipends, and bribe them, compassing about the
king's palace with their privy swords, which they had under their
garments, with a mighty cry required Selim to be appointed for their
emperor. Unto whom when Bajazet had answered, that he had
assigned Acomates, they refused him, because he was fat, gross, and
unable thereunto ; but needs would have Selim, who was stout and
warlike, to be made emperor : and withal, they drew out their swords,
crying ' Selim,-1 ' Selim.'' Then Bajazet, giving place to their
fury, showed himself content to give them Selim ; whom the Jani-
zaries receiving, brought him unto the palace : unto whom Bajazet
his father, giving place, willed him not to be so hasty and furious in Counsi i
his doings, but to be modest, and take heed what he did, and not to "0 his sou.
follow his fury, but to give place unto time, which revealeth all things,
and think himself to be a man subject to dangers and jeopardies as
other men are. And thus speaking, he resigned his imperial throne
and seat unto him, and went away all heavy, entering into a certain
order of their religion. Whereupon followed great exclamations (if
the people, saluting Selim as emperor: who then, taking the rule
upon him, began with great cruelty to govern, destroying many of his
nobles, such as had stood against him, some with poison, some by
other cruel means ; and advancing his own side, with great honours
and promotions.
Not long after Selim was thus settled in his kingdom, Bajazet Ins
father, intending to see and prove how he behaved himself in his
government, first entered into his treasure-house, where he found all
his riches to be scattered and gone. Afterwards he came into his
armoury, where all the spoils gotten by war were likewise wasted.
Then he entered into the jewel-house, where all his plate and gifts
sent from kings and princes were kept ; which likewise were dispersed
and given away. At length he came into the stable, where also he, r>isPu-a-
seeing his principal horses to be lacking, sighing with himself, ami iJ','^'!.
crying, ' Vengeance upon him !' prepared himself, with the residue of against
the treasure which was remaining, to sail over into Natolia, unto his
eldest son ; and passing by an orchard near to the sea-side, where he
had appointed to take ship, in the mean time, whilst the ships were
in furnishing, he sat down under a tree, and began to curse his son,
and to ask vengeance upon him, for that he had so despised his father,
and was become so impious a wretch.
IS THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
Buja-.rt Selim, understanding of his father's departure, came into the
'n'nd orchard where his rather was, seeming to be very heavy, and much
*■'""• lamenting that his rather would so privily depart and go away, seeing
i>i5»em- that he desired not the government of the empire, but was contented
. only with the title thereof. " O father,11 said he, "do not thus
Beiimto privily depart away: do not procure this shame to your son, who so
r tenderly loveth you. Letme have but the name only, and be you the
emperor indeed. The end of your natural life most patiently I shall
expect, which 1 pray God may long continue." And thus, using
many fair and flattering words to his father, he commanded a banquet,
with many dainty junkets, to be brought unto him, but tempered and
infected with poison : which as soon as Bajazet had begun to taste
i f. and felt the strength of the poison working in his body, he took
Ulher- his last farewel] of his son, and going out of the city, accompanied
with a great retinue of men. yelling and crying out in the streets, in
the middle of his journey fell down, and miserably died, a.d. 1512.
Here mayest thou see, good reader ! a cursed brood of this Turkish
generation, where the father dieth in cursing the son, and the son
reigneth by poisoning his father.
SELTM, THE ELEVENTH EMPEROR OF THE TURKS.
the After this wretched Selim had exercised his barbarous cruelty upon
his lather, with like impiety he seeketh the destruction of his brethren
ottoman. ;in(i tjicjr (.^iidrcn, first beginning his murder with the five children
his nephews, who were the sons of his three brethren before departed.
This done, then remained his other two brethren yet alive, Acnuiates.
and Corchnthus, with their children, likewise to be destroyed ; of
whom the one had three sons, whom their father sent to Selim his
In-other and their uncle, with fair and gentle words, to entreat him to
be good unto their father, offering to him their duty and service in all
things, honouring him also as emperor. But cruel Selim commanded
s i in forthwith his said nephews to be strangled. The father, hearing of
hiibro- the cruel murder of his sons, leaving house and home, went and hid
Mphew! himself in mountains, where he lived for a space with herbs and wild
honey; but, being bewrayed by one of his men, he was brought to
Selim, and so was strangled.
( 'liristopher Richer, writing of these matters, seemeth something to
differ from other stories, and saith, that Selim, after the death of his
brother ( lorchuthus, came to Bursa, where, under the colour of making
a great triumph, he ordained a feast for his friends and kinsfolk,
whereunto were called especially his nephews ; who, then, at the end
of the feast, calling his nephews aside (as under the pretence of con-
ferring with Mm secretly about his necessary affairs), committed them
to his servants to be strangled and put to death. All this while
A.comates, his other brother, through the help and instruction of his
mother, was kept out of the tyrant's hands, till at length, after great
labour and search made how to get him, certain forged letters were
cast abroad, wherein was contained, that Animates, to revenge the
great impiety, and subdue the tyranny of Selim his brother, should
UMrAofr >h"u himself abroad : which if 'he would do, he should find friends
■*•» enough to take his part. Acomatcs, circumvented with these subtle
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 49
trains, partly for hope of rcvcngcmcnt, partly for desire of the empire, Seiim.
showed himself abroad with such power and strength as he had : who,
being set upon incontinent by Selim his brother, was overcome in
battle, and tailing from his horse, being a man corpulent and gross,
and his horse falling upon him, was so overpressed and slain.
Touching the death of this Acomates, Munstcrus, somewhat dif-
fering from this narration, addeth moreover, and saith, that he was not
killed with the fall from his horse, but that sitting all dismayed upon
a stone, and seeing no other remedy but death, he desired the captain,
taking his rings from his fingers, to deliver the same to his brother,
desiring Mm that he might not be put to any extreme cruelty of death,
but that he gently would suffer him to be let blood in the bath, and
so to die. But Selim, being not ignorant of this, suborneth privy The cru-
tormentors, who, binding his hands behind him, with their feet cast g^^f
him down upon the ground, and so, twisting his neck with a cord, against
did strangle him. This Acomates had two sons, who, hearing of the tuer aco-
death of their father, did fly for succour, the one to Sophus, in Persia, mates'
and the other to the sultan, in Egypt,
By means hereof, new occasion of war grew unto Selim, whereby
he was kept in Asia, at home, to fight against the Persians and
Egyptians : so that, through the Lord's providence, Christendom by
that means was delivered from great danger and peril of the Turk's
tyranny. For otherwise the Turk was wholly minded, -with all his
force and puissance, to invade the Christians ; being in doubt whether The pro-
first to begin with Rhodes, or whether to assault Pannonia, or else to God, in
set upon Italy, being then at great discord within itself: but this ^j^f.
cause occupied the Turk's mind otherwise, and kept him at home ; si.ons f<*
such was then the providence of the Lord, for the safeguard of his people.
people.
Wherefore, forasmuch as the affairs and doings of this Turk were
spent for the most part in the Turkish and Heathenish countries, it
shall not be greatly necessary to trouble our Christian stories there-
with, but only shall suffice to contract them in a brief sum, declaring
superficially *vhat unquietness was amongst them there, who could
never be quiet, but ever working some mischief either abroad or at
home. Amurath, the Turk's nephew aforesaid, after he had obtained war oe-
aid of Sophus the king of the Persians, first invaded Cappadocia ; not amana6"
long after whom followed Ismael Sophus, the Persian king, by reason ^p"8r-.
whereof, a great battle was fought betwixt the Persians and Selim, m sianking.
the fields of Armenia Major. In that battle, Ismael Sophus, the Per-
sian king, was hurt on the shoulder with a pellet ; and so, being
carried out of the field, left the victory to Selim, who, albeit he had
an army of 150,000 men, yet he in the same field lost about 30,000
of his Turks : -which field was fought A.D. 1514. Selim, after this
victory, went to Tauris, the imperial city of the Persians, which he,
by yielding, subdued.
In this mean time it happened that one Aladulus, a king of Ar- war be-
menia the greater, was also a helper to Ismael against the Turk ; seilmand
whereupon Selim the Turk, taking great indignation, the next year Aladulus-
following, leaving the Persians, fought against the said Aladulus, and
in the end overcame him ; and afterwards, being found in a cave in a
wood, he was taken out and brought to Selim, and so beheaded: whose
VOL. iv. E
50 THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
sdim. head, being first carried about Asia for a triumph, was afterwards sent
PreMnT to the Benate of Venice for a terror unto them. The eldest son of
Uonof AJadulus, escaping tlie hands of his pursuers, fled into Egypt. This
twJ.n'se- battle thus fought and ended, Selim, after he had divided the king*
ISchris. dom of Aladulua into three provinces, went to Lycaonia, and from
"'":s thence to Europe, there to defend the city of Samandria, against the
Christians in Hungary : but the Hungarians, being soon repressed by
Juno Bassa the Turk's captain, great preparation began to be made
by the Turks, against the confines of Servia bordering upon Hungary,
the terror whereof stirred up Maximilian the emperor, and Ladislaus
The Turk kino- 0f I [ungary, and Sigismund king ol Poland, to consult together,
row and conjoin their power for defence of Christendom. But, through
new incumbrances incident, the Turk, leaving Europe, made haste
again into Asia, to renew again his Avars against the Persians, who
Ufa vow. had made a vow not to give over that war before Ismael was over-
thrown.
But before he entered that war, first he sent his messengers to the
sultan of Egypt, requiring him not to intermeddle in that war : for
this sidtan before had promised to assist the Persians against the
Campson Turk. The name of the sultan who reigned then in Egypt, was
orrnierrf Campson, set up by the Mamalukes. These Mamalukes were a cer-
tians'.^11 tain order amongst the Egyptians, much like the Janizaries about the
Turk, who, being the children of christian men, and after denying
Christ, were the chiefest doers in the sultan's court, and, being grown
into a great multitude, did degenerate into a Turkish barbarity, or
rather became worse than Turks. This Campson, unto the messengers
of the Turk gave this answer, that unless he would leave off this war
against Ismael, and restore the son of Aladulus, he would not lay
down his armour.
Selim being incensed not a little with this insolent answer of the
sultan, leaving all other wars aside, with great celerity advanced
caier- his power against the sultan ; which sultan, partly through the false-
fais"8to hood of his captain Caierbeius, partly by the suddenness of the Turk's
jjjj ma8" coming, not far from the city of Damascus encountered with the
Turk ; and there, overthrown from his horse, being a fat and gross
The sui- body, and falling under his horse, and his horse also falling upon him,
tao -luii. was quashed in pieces, and so died, a. d. 1516.
The Mamalukes, of whom more than a thousand in this battle wrere
Tomonm- s\a[n^ flying from thence to Memphis, set up Tomoumbeius instead of
Campson ; whose captain Gazelles was overcome at the city of Gaza,
and he afterwards himself driven out of Memphis, where a great part
of the Mamalukes were destroyed. Then Tomoumbeius, flying over
the Hood Nile, renewed his army again ; but, in theend, he was dis-
comfited and chased into a marsh, where he was found standing in the
water up to the chin ; and so, being brought to Selim, he was put to
the rack and greal torments, to make him confess where Campson's
treasures were. But, when he would not declare, he was carried about
the town wish a halter round his neck, and hanged up upon a high
gibbet, for b Bpectade to all Egypt; which was a.d. 1517. And
thus wo-e the two sultans of Egypt destroyed with the Mamalukes,
who there had l.onie the rule in Egypt the space of two hundred and
forty-three years; the progeny of which Mamalukes remaining of the
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 51
wars, the Turk commanded, in the prison-gates of Alexandria, to be sen*,,
cut in pieces. Selim from thence triumphing, departed to Constan- so"i"man.
tinople, intending to spend the rest of his time in persecuting the
Christians. But in that mean space he was stricken with a cankered The
sore rotting inward, and died, after he had reigned seven years like seura°
a beast, a.d. 1520.
The reign of this Turk was but short in number of years ; but in
number of his murders and cruel bloodshed it might seem exceeding
long, who lived more like a beast than a man ; for he never spared
any of his friends or kindred. His father first he poisoned, his bre-
thren and all his cousins he quelled, leaving none of all his kindred o/se'ilm
alive. Moreover, his chief and principal captains for small occasions ^inrt
he put to death, as Mustapha, Calogere, Chendeme, Bostang his son- kindred.
in-law, and Juno Bassa.
It is said moreover, that he intended the poisoning of his own son
Solyman, sending unto him a shirt infected with poison, because he
seemed something freely to speak against the cruel demeanour of his
father : but, by the means of his mother, the gift being suspected, was
given to another, who was his chamberlain, who, putting on the shirt,
was stricken with the poison thereof, and therewithal died.
As touching this Turk Selim, by the way here may be noted, how a note of
the secret providence of the Lord kept him occupied with his Turkish Pr°ovi-
wars at home, while the reformation of Christian religion here in Eu- Jherefor-
rope, at the same time begun by Martin Luther, might the more nation of
quietly take some rooting without disturbance or interruption. For
so it appeareth by the computation of time, that in the days of this
Selim, Martin Luther first began to write against the pope's indul-
gences, which was a. d. 1516.
SOLYMAN, THE TWELFTH EMPEROR OF THE TURKS.
Solyman, the only son of Selim, succeeded after his father's soiyman,
death, who, in the first beginning, seemed to some to be simple and twelfth
sheepish, and not meet for the Turkish government : wherefore cer- *ner 0t-
n 1 • i i • i i i- • ii toman.
tain of his nobles, consulting how to depose him, intended to set up
another emperor; in which conspiracy are especially named Caierbeius
and Gazelles. This Caierbeius was he that betrayed before Campson
the sultan of Egypt to Selim, as is aforesaid ; who now also being
in consultation with Gazelles and others about this matter, detected
them also unto Solyman. Wherefore the said Gazelles and his fellows,
being thus detected, were put to death by Solyman : declaring thereby
that he was not so sheepish as he was thought of them to be ; and as
also by his acts afterwards did more appear.
Solyman, after this execution done upon the conspirators, taking Belgrade
his voyage into Europe, first besieged Belgrade, which, being a city of^'eged
in Hungary, was the strongest fort of all the Roman empire, and the ]w |£e
chief defence at that time of all Christendom ; which also, assaulted
before time by Amurath II., was valiantly defended by Johannes
Huniades, as is above specified. But here now lacked such a one as
Huniades was : for the kingdom of Hungary at that time was under
the government of Ludovic, a young king, inexpert and of a simple
wit ; whom other princes, and especially the covetous churchmen, did
e2
52
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
DUeord
gunonRit
Christian
*o pill and poll, that they left him nothing but only the bare name
an/title 0f his kingdom ; 'whereby he, being unfurnished both of men
and money, was unable to match with such an enemy.
Another advantage also the Turks had in besieging Belgrade, for
thftChriBtian minces, at that time, were in civil dissension and vari-
ance amongst themselves ; and the pope with his churchmen also were
a&n* go busy in" suppressing Luther, and the gospel then newly spring-
1,r"u:''"' ing that they minded nothing else, except it were to maintain the
wealth of their own bellies; which pope, if he had set his care (as his
duty was) as much in stirring up princes against the common, enemy,
as be was bent to deface the gospel, and to persecute the true pro-
fessors thereof, soon might he have brought to pass, not only that
Belgrade might have been defended against the Turk, but also that
to l>e recovered again, which was lost before ; and, moreover, he might
have stopped the great dangers and perils which now are like to fall
upon the religion and church of Christ; which the Lord of his great
mercy avert and turn away.
The pope Certes, whatsoever the pope then did, this had been his duty,
u buy setting all other things apart, to have had an earnest compassion of
Sithw, so many miserable and lost captives, who were fallen from their faith
m-Kkct'- and religion, unto the misery and slavery of the Turk, and thraldom
rSnof °' ^e devil, and t0 nave sought a^ means possible to have reduced
Chiitttn- them, as lost sheep, into the fold again; which then might soon
have been done, if prelates and princes, joining together in christian
concord, had loved as well the public glory of Christ, and souls of
Christians, as they tendered their own private, worldly, and frivolous
Tme quarrels. And admit that the pope had conceived ever so much
SSSS'iMk- malice against Luther, his quarrel also being good; yet the public
ing in the church, standing in such danger as it then did, by the invasion of
the Turk, reason would, nature led, religion taught, time required,
that a good prelate, forgetting lighter matters, should rather have laid
his shoulder to the excluding of so great a danger, as then was immi-
nent both to himself, and the universal church of Christ. But now,
his quarrel being unjust, and the cause of Luther being most just
and godly, what is to be said or thought of such a prelate, who, for-
bearing the Turk, whom in a time so dangerous he ought chiefly to
have resisted, persecuted the truth which he should specially have
maintained ? But Christ, of his mercy, stand for his church, and stir
up zealous princes and prelates, if not to recover that which is lost,
\<t at least to retain that little which is left !
nf''i!,ri'y Solyman therefore, taking this occasion, and using the commodity
I tune, while our princes were thus at variance betwixt themselves,
without any resistance or interruption brought his army unto Bel-
grade, ,\.t>. 1521; which city being but slenderly defenccd, the
Turk, through his undcrminers, guns, and other engines of war,
without great difficulty, and with little loss of his soldiers, soon
ubdued and overcame.
After this victory, Solyman resting himself a whole vear, and
in his mind how to make all sure behind him, for fear of
enemies to conic upon his hack, thought it expedient for his purpose,
if he might obtain the island of Rhodes; lor that only remained
vt christian betwixt him and Asia. Wherefore, the next vear
THE HISTORY OK THE TURKS. 53
following, he brought his navy of four hundred and fifty ships, with Soiyman.
three hundred thousand men, to the besieging thereof. This Rhodes Rhodes
was a mighty and strong island, within the Mediterranean sea ; the ^^g^-
inhabitants whereof, at the first, did manfully resist the Turk, sparing-
no labour, nor pains for the defence of themselves and all Christen-
dom. But afterwards, being brought to extremity, and pinched with
penury, seeing also no aid to come from the Christians, they some-
what began to languish in themselves. The Turks, in the mean
time, casting up two great mountains, with strength of hand, two
miles off from the city, like rolling trenches carried them before
them near unto the city, in the tops whereof they planted their ord-
nance and artillery, to batter the city. The master of the knights
of Rhodes was then one Philippus Villadamus, a Frenchman, in
whom no diligence was lacking, that appertained to the defence of
the city. The Rhodians, likewise, so valiantly behaved themselves
upon the walls, that with their shot all the ditches about the city
were filled with the carcases of dead Turks. Besides this, such a
disease of the bloody flux reigned in the Turks1 camp, that thirty
thousand of them died thereof ; and yet for all this Soiyman would
not cease from his siege begun : who, at length, by undermincrs
casting down the vaumures and uttermost parts of the city, won
ground still more and more upon the Rhodians, and with mortar-
pieces so battered the houses, that there was no free place almost
standing in all the city. And thus continued the siege for the space
of five or six months, and yet all this while came no help unto them
from the Christians. Wherefore they, being out of all hope, through
the advice of Villadamus, yielded themselves unto the Turk, upon
condition that he would spare them with life and goods : which con-
vention the Turk kept with them faithfully and truly.
Thus Soiyman, with his great glory, and utter shame to all Christian
christian princes, and also ruin of all Christendom, got the noble isle negligent
of Rhodes ; although not without great loss and detriment of his _ J
army, insomuch that at one assault twenty thousand Turks about the fe3o»
walls were slain with fire, sword, stones, and other engines : whereby
it may be conjectured what these Rhodians might, or would have
done, if succour had come to them from other christian princes, as
they looked for. This city was won upon Christmas-day, a.d. 1522.
This conquest of Rhodes obtained, Soiyman, the fourth year after, christian
bringeth back his army again into Hungary, where he found none to against
resist him but only Ludovic the young king, who, being accompanied ^,^urk
with a small army, and nothing able to match with the Turk, yet, of si"-;' well
a hasty rashness and vain hope of victory, would needs set upon Jam; guiding
.vho, if he had staid but a little, had prospered the better, for °[t!^!'
Johannes Vaivoda, being a captain well exercised in Turkish wars
before, was not far off, coming with a sufficient power of able soldiers.
But Paul, the archbishop of Colosse, a Franciscan friar, a man more
bold than wise, with his temerity and rashness troubled all their
doings ; for the whole sum of the army of the Hungarians contained
in all but only four and twenty thousand horsemen and footmen,
who, at length coming unto the battle, and being compassed about
with a great multitude of the Turk's army, were brought into great
distress. The Turks twice shot off their pieces against the christian
in help-
ing tliei
r. | THE HISTOBY OF THE TURKS.
soi^man. army ; yet scarce was any Christian touched with the stroke thereof:
which was thought to be done on purpose, because they were
chris- Christians who had the ordering of the guns (for then the special
I'c're the gunners of the Turks were Christians), whom for the same cause
.i^-ciai tj,Cy spared. Then the Turks1 horsemen, coming upon the back of
fodie the christian army, compassed them about, and by reason of their
Turk' multitude overcharged their horsemen ; amongst whom was slain, at
The rash the same time, the archbishop friar abovesaid, with the bishops of
bishop Striegau and Waradein, and many other nobles beside. Also the
fnar king himself, being destitute of his necessary aid and succour, was
Kij.p Lu- compelled to fly into a marsh, where he, falling from his horse, being
JtatotiT heavy laden with his harness, was not able to rise again, but there
miserably perished.
Solyman the Turk marvelled at the foolishness of Ludovic the
king, who, with so small an army, would presume to encounter with
6uch a great host of two hundred thousand. This battle in Hungary
was fought a.d. 1526.
Ferdi- After the decease of Ludovic, Ferdinand succeeded in the king-
Hung«ry. dom, being duke of Austria and king of Hungary. Then Solyman,
setting contention betwixt Johannes Vaivoda and Ferdinand, for the
kingdom of Hungary, sped his voyage to the city of Buda, which
also, in short time, he made to be yielded unto him upon condition
that they should escape with their lives and goods : which condition
con- some say he kept, and some say he did not. Besides Buda, divers
ulc Turk, places and munitions the said Turk, contrary to his league made
before, did spoil and waste ; as Waradein, Fiinf kirchen, and
other forts and munitions more, bordering about the coasts of
Hungary.
conten- In the year of our Lord, 1529, Ferdinand, king of Hungary
nv"ene" aforesaid, recovered divers holds gotten of the Turk before, and also
nandand warrm£ against Johannes Vaivoda, his enemy, with whom he had
vaivoda. variance (as ye heard before), expulsed him out of his kingdom ;
vowoda whereupon Vaivoda, flying to the Turk, desired his aid. The Turk,
Bieth to g]aj t0 take that occasion, with great preparation addressed himself
Turk., to return into Hungary, where he, recovering again the city of Buda,
which Ferdinand had gotten from him a little before, removed his
army into Austria, spoiling and destroying by the way all that came
to his hands; showing many examples of great cruelty and tyranny
"anMci m°?' lamentable to hear and understand. For of some he put out
3tK? c' their eyes, of some he cut off their hands, of some their ears and
cruelty. noscs; and their children he shamefully mutilated. The maidens he
t corrupted, the matrons had their breasts cut off, and such as were
with child were ripped, and their children cast into the fire. And
these examples of horrible and barbarous tyranny this wretched Turk
perpetrated by the way coming toward Vienna, a noble city in
Austria; besides the captives which he took by the way and led
into servitude most miserable, amounting to the number of thirty
thousand.
Amnnu other holds by the way the Turk came, there was a castle
called Altenburg, Btrongly by nature situated, and by art defenced;
which castle the Turk, intending not to overpass, because he would
HUkc all things sure behind him, began to make his assault, and lay
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS 5 •*>
his ordnance against it. The warders and keepers of the castle, so Soiyman.
soon as the Turk began to lay siege against them, making no resist-
ance, of a womanly cowardliness sent their messengers to the Turk,
to yield themselves ready to do his commandment, and further him
with their victual ; amongst whom were three hundred Bohemians, Attei?.of
who were commanded to follow the host, that the Turk by them ^r1,il1(',<1 tii
might learn what strength was in the city of Vienna ; also where the the Tun..
king was, and what was to be done for the winning thereof.
Of whom when the Turk had understanding how all things stood,
and how that there were but twenty thousand men in Vienna able to.
bear armour, and that other cities of Austria would soon yield if that
were gotten, and that Vienna was victualled but for two months, and
that the king was of late in Bohemia ; thus, the Turk of all things
being certified, having no doubt in his mind of victory, made speed Neapolis
toward Vienna ; and first coming to Neapolis, a city but eight miles by*afed
distant from Vienna, he required them to yield themselves ; who, Jj*rk
notwithstanding, withstood them, and repulsed them valiantly. Then Turk's
the Turks assigned a place for the pitching of their tents, which, twohuo-
because it seemed something too little for such a great multitude, ^?^„.
they took in more ground, to the compass of seven miles circuit, sand soi-
The multitude of his army, which he there planted, is accounted of prepata-
some to extend to two hundred and fifty thousand soldiers. The j""^*
Turks thus being planted, made daily excurses over all the country of °f Vienna
Austria, especially about the city of Vienna, wasting and spoiling, Turk!
with great cruelty and murder, amongst the poor Christians.
Moreover, to make all things more sure towards the preparation
of the siege, scouts were sent abroad, and ambushments were laid
about the side of the river Danube, to provide that no aid nor
victual should be brought to Vienna. So it pleased the providence
of the Lord (who disposeth all things), that three days before the
coming of the Turk, Frederic the earl Palatine, who was then Frede-
assigned by the empire to take the charge of Vienna, was come down paiatfiie.
by the river Danube with 14,000 men, and with a certain troop of y^™"1
horsemen well appointed and picked for the purpose. After the
coming of this Frederic, provision also of victual was appointed to
follow shortly after by the said river Danube.
In the mean time, they who had the carriage and transporting
thereof, hearing how the ways were laid, and all the passages ten
miles about Vienna stopped by the Turks, although they knew the
city to stand in great need of victual, yet seeing there was no other
remedy, rather than it should come to the enemy's hand, thought it
best to sink their boats with their carriage ; and so they did : whereby
albeit the Christians wanted their relief, yet were the Turks dis-
appointed of their prey and purpose. The captains who had the captains
keeping of the city, who were chiefly Frederic the carl Palatine, u'o"^ ','-
William Rogendorff, and Nicholas earl of Salm, seeing themselves vV^a
so straitened contrary to their expectation, although they had great
causes to be discouraged, yet calling their courage unto them, they
consulted together for the best way to be taken : and seeing that the
little city Neapolis, above mentioned, being eight miles distant from
them, so valiantly withstood the Turks, that in one day they sustained
seven grievous assaults against all the main force of the Turkish
gt; THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
5,/,™.-.. annv; by fcheir example and manful standing being the more ani-
mated and encouraged, they thought to abide the uttermost before
they would give over; and first, plucking down all the suburbs and
buildings without the walls, whereby the enemy might have any
succour" they willed all the farmers and inhabitants about the city to
save themselves, and to bring in their goods within the walls. Such
Prapu» places us were weak within the walls, they made strong. About the
[,';'",," ,!h towers and munition of the walls they provided rampiers and bulwarks,
"'y distant eighty foot one from another, to keep off the shot ; and every
iuxu'rk. man had his place and standing awarded to him upon the wall, and
his office appointed what to do. But especially that side of the city
which lieth to the river Danube, they fortified after the best wise :
Provijioo for that way only now remained for victual to be transported from
visual-' the Bohemians unto them. Wherefore eight ensigns were assigned
'"'* th8 to the keeping of the bridge ; and in the plain, which was like an
island enclosed within the river, a sufficient garrison of horsemen
were placed, lying within gunshot of the city ; to the intent that
if any grain or victual were sent from the Bohemians, they might
provide the same safely to be brought into the city.
Good These things thus being disposed and set in order, lord William
. Rogendorff, to assay the strength of. the Turks, made divers roads
out with his horsemen, albeit much against the minds of the Austrians ;
who, knowing the manner of the Turks, thought it better to suffer
them, while either with time they might be overwearied, or for lack
of victuals consumed. Among many and sundry skirmishes which
the Christians had with the Turks, one especially was to our men
unprospcrous ; in which certain of the horsemen, espying a small
troop of the Turks scattering abroad from their company, made out
after them ; who suddenly and guilefully were enclosed and circum-
vented by the Turks, before they could recover the gates of the city,
and so were all taken alive : of them three were sent by the Turks
into the city, to declare to the Viennians what strength they had seen
in the camp of their adversaries, and to solicit them to yield their
iy for fear of punishment which would follow. The residue they
theTurki reserved to torments and punishment, whom, in the sight of the
3£ciwt. w!lolc arm.v, antl of the Christians (who should tell the same to the
a**- citizens), they caused, every man, with four horses, to be drawn to
pieces, and so to be dismembered and plucked asunder.
After this dune, the barbarous Turk immediately sent his herald
to talk with the captains of the city, whether they would yield the
city upon honest conditions, or else would abide the arbitrement of
war. If* they would gently submit themselves, they should have all
gentleness to them showed. If they would be stubborn, and stand
to their defence, he would also stand to his siege begun, so that he
ould par. neither man, woman, nor child. To this the captains
owwered again, That they were contented that Solyman should
stand to his siege begun, and do his utmost, what he would, or what
''«• could. As tor them, they were at a point to defend themselves
and thar citj as long as they might: that the event and fall of vic-
lorv was doubtful, and many times so happeneth, that they who
1,1 "-'■" ,1"' *tt we wearied, sooner than they who be provoked:
leithei that they were so unmindful either of themselves, or of their
..r the
Turk tn
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 57
country, but that they did remember well what they arc, and what soiyman.
they be called ; named to be Germans, who use always first to assay
the adversary, what he is able to do, and not rashly to commit them-
selves into their enemies1 hands.
Soiyman, not a little disdaining at this answer, first burning and soiyman
consuming all the villages, houses, and places round about the city ; e?hv??h'
infecting also the springs and fountains which gave water into the [l,^;l.wiUl
city ; and so stopping all passages, that no relief should have way B«at «-
unto them, began with angry mood to approach more near to the mie8,
city, with three great camps, sending them word in scorn and con-
tumely by one of his captives, That if they stood in need of help of
soldiers, he would send unto them the three hundred Bohemians
(mentioned a little before), to aid them in their defence. To whom
the Palatine directed answer again, That they had more soldiers in
the city than they needed. As for the Bohemians who had yielded
themselves, he might do with them what he would, for Vienna stood
in no great need of them.
In the mean time a messenger coming from Ferdinand was privily a meg-
let in by night into the city, who brought word that they should play ^lf,y„m
the men in keeping out the enemy awhile : for it would not be long, l"^u>
but both Ferdinand and Charles, his brother, with the strength of all Vienna.
Germany, would be ready to rescue them. At this message the
hearts of the soldiers began somewhat to be cheered, and to contemn
the huge multitude of the adversaries, being so great as they never
did behold, nor did ever almost hear of before ; the largeness of
whose army extended to no less in compass (as is abovesaid) than
of seven miles round about the city walls.
Long it were to recite the whole order of this terrible siege, with The siege
all the parts and circumstances thereof. Briefly to touch so much as begin
shall suffice for this history, with fewer words than were stripes given ,Rth
at the siege thereof; this is to be judged and confessed, whosoever
beholdeth the number and fierceness of the Turks, the absence of
king Ferdinand, the lack of provision and victual within the city, the
noise of the guns, the violence of the shot, the terror of the sight,
and yet no succour sent unto them ; that the custody of that city
was no man's doing, but the arm only of the Lord God of Hosts, The
according to the true saying of the Psalm, " Unless the Lord do p«4ei
keep the city, the watchmen watch in vain, which watch to save it : ^dence
unless the Lord do build the house, the builder striveth in vain jjj**?-
which taketh upon him to build itf experience whereof, in keeping city,
this city, may well appear.
First Soiyman, bending his shot and ordnance against the city, beat
down to the ground the vaumures, with all the uttermost suburbs of
the city ; and that in such a short moment of time, that the hearts of
the Viennians, a little before refreshed, were now as much appalled
again with fear, misdoubting with themselves, lest the Turk, with the
same celerity and violence, would have prevailed against the inward
walls, as he did in beating down the outward vaumures. And no
doubt the same time the Turk had put the city in great hazard, had
not night, coming on, broken off the siege for that day.
In the mean time the citizens laboured all night in repairing and
refreshing the walls, to make all things sure against the next assault.
the man
Turks.
Another
assault of
5g Tilt HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
socman. The next day, early in tlie morning, the Turks, approaching the city
in with anew assault, thinking to scale the walls, were so repulsed
and manfully resisted by the Germans, that scarcely any ditches about
ub.''uY.he the walls could be Been, for the bodies of the dead Turks, wherewith
vSbjul they were replenished; so that the Turks were fain to fight standing
upon the bodies of them that were slain : by which calamity, the force
oj the enemy was not a little abated.
Mlllli. it happened the same time, that a company of the Turks being
vSmm- Ti,,! oUt ot t'10c''ty wandering out of order, the captain Rogendorff,
•i"''1" with two legions of horsemen issuing out of the city gate called Sal-
ami bo passing closely under the bill's side, did so set upon them,
that tliey slew a great number of them, the rest being driven to take
the river ; whom with stones and shot likewise they destroyed, and
so retired back into the city again. By this victory the captain
Rogendorff began to be terrible to the Turks: for in the same
skirmish, as after was known, were slain of them so many, that of five
thousand three hundred horsemen and footmen, scarce one hundred
and forty escaped alive.
Solyman, disdaining at this repulse, thought to prove another way,
thrTurks and so bringing his power toward the gate called the King's Gate,
'\\"»L then' making his trenches and bulwarks, planted his ordnance; with
the violence whereof the walls were so battered and shaken, that no
man was able there to stand. Wherefore the Turk, seeing two great
breaches made in the wall, commanded his soldiers covertly, in the
dark smoke of the gunpowder, to press into the city. The like also
was done at the Scottish tower, whereby the city Avas invaded in two
sundry places at one time. The Viennians, at first, freshly began to
withstand them, new soldiers still coming in the place of them that
were slain and hurt ; and so this assault continuing more than six
hours together, our men began at length to languish and faint not only
in strength, but also in courage, whereby the city had been in great
danger of losing, had not the two aforesaid captains, Rogendorff in
the one place, and the earl of Salm in the other place, manfully en-
couraged the soldiers to abide the brunt, and to bear out awhile the
violence of the Turks ; promising that immediately they should have
aid from Ferdinand.
In the mean time the Turks came so thick, for greediness of the
victory, scaling, climbing, and fighting upon the walls, that had it not
been for the press and throng of the great multitude of the Turks,
coming so thick that one of them could not fight for another, Vienna
that same day had been taken and utterly lost. But, by the policy
"I the captains giving a sign within the city, as though new soldiers
were (ailed for, our men began to be encouraged, and the Turks1
hearts to be discomfited.
W hen Solyman saw his army the second time repulsed, he began
t" attempt a new way, purposing, by undermining, to overthrow the
city; in which work specially he used the help of the Illyrians, of
whom he had a great number in his camp, expert in that kind of feat.
I hese lllyrians, beginning to break the earth at the gate Carinthia,
;""1 coming mar to the foundations of the tower, which they by
strength of hand attempted to break, could not work so closely under
th( ground, but they were perceived by certain men above, who were
AnntliiT
oi the
Vienna
under-
mined.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 59
skilful and expert in that kind of matter ; who, contrariwise, under- soiyman.
mining against them, and filling their trenches as they went with gun-
powder, so conveyed their train, that when fire should be set unto it,
the violence thereof should burst out by the trenches of the enemies :
which done, suddenly the ground beneath made a great shaking, so
that the tower did cleave asunder, and all the underminers of the
Turks, working in their trenches, were smothered and destroyed,
which came to the number (as it was supposed afterwards) of eight
thousand persons ; insomuch that yet till this day a great number of
dead men's sculls are found in the ground.
When Soiyman saw that this way also would not serve, and had Another
privy intelligence that the walls about the gates of Stubarium were {JJX?*
negligently kept, and that he might have there more easy entrance ; Turks-
secretly he conveyeth about ten garrisons of fresh soldiers, in such
sort as the townsmen should not perceive them ; who came so sud-
denly upon them, that they had filled their ditches, and were upon
the top of the fortresses and munitions, before our men were aware of
them, or could make themselves ready to resist them. For, although
there was no lack of soldiers within the city, yet, forasmuch as the
Avhole brunt of the siege did lie especially at the two gates aforesaid,
from whence the soldiers who were there warding, could not be well
removed ; for a shift, the rescuers (who within the city were ready for
all sudden adventures) were sent to the walls; by whose coming,
those few who kept the enemies off before, being sore hurt and
wounded, were succoured and sent to surgery ; and thus the said as-
sault continued terrible and doubtful, until (the dark night coming
upon them) they could not well know the one from the other. In this
bickering were counted of the Turks to be slain more than five thousand.
Then the captain Rogendorff, commending the valiant standing of
his soldiers, misdoubting with himself (as it happened indeed) that
the Turks would not so give over, but would set upon him the next
day with a fresh assault, providing with all diligence for the purpose,
made up the breaches of the walls, and prepared all things necessary
for resistance. The next morning following, which was something dark
and misty, the Turks, thinking to prevent our men with their sud-
den coming, began again busily to bicker upon the top of the walls.
It would require a long tractation here to describe the great dis-
tress and danger that the city, those three days following, was in ;
during all which time there was no rest, no intermission, nor diligence
lacking, either in the enemies, fighting against the city, or in our men
in defending the same. For the Turks, besides the multitude of the
great ordnance, wherewith (as with a great tempest of gun-shot) they
never ceased still battering the walls, and beating the munitions of
the city, sent also such heaps and multitudes of the Turks to the
scaling and climbing of the walls, that scarcely with all the ordnance and
shot of the city, either their violence could be broken, or the number
of them diminished ; till at last, the soldiers of the Turks, perceiving The
themselves able by no means to prevail, but only to run in danger of variance
life, and to do no good, began to wrangle among themselves, grudging a™™P
and repining against their dukes and captains, imputing the whole cause selves,
only to them, that the city was yetuntaken, seeing there was nthem nei-
ther diligence nor goodwill lacking: and so ceased the siege for that time.
GO THE HISTOJIY OF THE TURKS
seigman After this, when Solyman had purposed in liimself, with his last
ami strongest siege, to try against the city the uttermost that he
was able to do, and had encouraged his soldiers to prepare themselves
riK-Turk in most forcible wise thereunto, the soldiers showed themselves much
Millie'5 unwilling to return again, from whence they were so often repulsed
cannot before i ',v reason whereof great commotion began to arise in the
Turk's camp. The rumour whereof when it came to Solyman's ears,
lie sendeth his grand captain to keep all the soldiers in order and
obedience ; or, if they would be stubborn, to compel them, whether
they would or not, to accomplish his commandment : who, coming to
the soldiers, showed to them the great Turk's message ; and, to
animate and encourage them, declared that the opportunity of the
time present was not to be neglected, neither could they now, without
great shame, give over, after so many assaults attempted ; who, if
they would sustain but one brunt more, the victory were in their own
hands. The townsmen, he said, were wasted, and their victuals spent ;
and the more to enflame their minds, he promised them not only
great thanks and reward of their emperor, but also the whole spoil of
the city, in recompense of their travail,
compui- But when all this could not stir up the sturdy stomachs of the tired
men0 Turks, using compulsion where persuasion would not serve, he ap-
notwten pointed a number of horsemen to be set at their backs, whereby to
dtfend-d enmrce tucm either to go forward, or, if they be denied, with guns
•■tii. and spears to destroy them. The Turks seeing themselves in such
a strait, that whether they went or tarried it was to them like peril,
yet would they not set forward, except the captain would take the
venture before them ; who, warding forward in his array, thus spake
unto his fellows, saying : " Do you forsake your faith and allegiance,
and betray the emperor of Constantinople unto the Christians, if you
will, but I will discharge my duty towards the commonwealth, and my
emperor ;" and with that word advanced his ensign, making toward the
city walls. Whom when others followed, and still more and more
onhe1"" Prcssc^ after' so it came to pass that whole routs of them were over-
Turks at thrown and slain by our men upon the walls, before it was known what
they meant. Others, terrified by their example, gave back and left
their array, and winding themselves by by-ways, and under covert of
hills, returned again into their tents ; and so came it to pass, that the
strength of the enemies daily more and more decreasing, they had less
and less hope (-very day than the other, of obtaining the city. For
besides the innumerable slaughter of Turks upon the walls, the towns-
men also, watching the foragers and purveyors of the Turks, as they
ranged about for victual for the camp, ever as occasion served them
did compass them about, and so encountered with them by the way,
that of a whole legion scarcely the tenth part returned again to their
Fellows alive; by means whereof the courage of the enemies began
Breauyto faint. Whereby such a marvellous alteration happened,
J'"1 l ""i' men began to receive more hope and courage, so the Turks
began still more to droop and to languish with despair; so that at
length scarce durst they appear without the bounds where they were
intrenched, but only in light skirmishes, when they were provoked
bv '""' """ '" come out and to show themselves.
Solyman, perceiving his soldiers thus daily to go to wrack, of whom
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 61
he had lost already more than eighty thousand, and that with long 8otgmam.
tarrying he could do no good, being also in lack of forage, for that Tiie~Turk
the country about him was wasted, beginneth to consult with his ["Jft",,,
captains and councillors, what remained best to be done ; of whom *«*«
the most part advised him to raise his siege, and betimes to provide retire.
for himself: which to do, many causes there were that moved him.
First, the loss of his men, who daily were cut from him by gnat num-
bers, besides those who lay in his camp wounded, or sick, or famished.
Secondly, lack of purveyance. Thirdly, the near approach of winter.
lint the chiefest cause was, for that he heard Frederic Palatine above-
mentioned, was coming with a great army at Ratisbonc, towards
Vienna, and there had done great molestation to a great number of the
Turkish foragers, whom by the way he prevented, and so inclosed in
the woods, that he slew them : whereof when Solyman had intelligence, Soiyman
thinking it not best to abide the coining of the Palatine, he made ShST"*'
haste with bag and baggage to remove his camp, and to retire ; and Vienn»-
first sending away his carnage before him, he made speed himself with
his army to follow shortly after.
The Viennians, when they heard of the removing away of the
Turks, although at first they scarcely believed it to be true, being
afterwards certified out of doubt both of their removing, and also of
the order thereof, how it was in the manner of a flight or chase, were
greatly desirous to make out of the city after them. Wherein, albeit
the presence of the Palatine with his army, if he had been there pre-
sent, might have stood them in great stead, yet, notwithstanding,
they took the opportunity of the time present, and issuing out of the
city, in most speedy wise set after them with their horsemen : and
first overpassing the tents (where the Turks had pitched their stations me
or pavilions) for haste of the way, they made such pursuit after them, ^al^s
that within little time they overtook the rear-ward or latter end of the P"™u??
army, whereof they made such havoc and destruction, that (as the flight
author reporteth) there was never a shot of the pursuers, nor weapon
drawn, nor stroke stricken, which lighted in vain ; which was no
hard thing for our men to do, for, as the Turks in their flight went
scattered out of order and array, neither would they in the fore-
rank (being so far off from jeopardy) return back to help their
fellows, it was easy for our men, without resistance, to come upon xhepnvy
their backs as they would. Yet, notwithstanding, in long pursuit, ;;t"[!;;:SL'
when our men could not see the carriage of the Turks, which was Turks
1? 1 i 1 x" prevent-
wont in armies to come away behind alter the host, and suspecting e<i.
(as truth was) some ambush to be left in privy wait behind them,
to come betwixt them and home, they called themselves to retreat,
and consulted upon the matter, thinking good, first to send out
certain scouts, to espy and bring them word where the enemies lay,
and what was the number of them. Whereof when intelligence was
given them that the remnant of the Turk's army was remaining in
the tents behind, word was sent to their fellows in Vienna to issue
out, and to join also with them against the tail of the Turks, who
had entrenched themselves within the earn]). Others were appointed
to follow the chase, lest peradventurc the Turks, seeing our men to
recule back, might return again upon them and help their fellows.
Which things being thus ordered and appointed, in the mean time,
oftba
Turks
gg THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
Solfum wlu]e part of the Viennians were hovering after the main army, the
" rest encountered with them that were left in the camp, who, seeing
themselves overmatched, first defenced their camp with a deep ditch
and bulwark, to delay the time, until some help might come to them
from the army : secondly, they directed messengers to the Christians,
to treat for peace : thirdly, they conveyed their privy letters untoSo-
lyman, for speedy aid and rescue; but all the ways and passages
Being topped by the Christians, their letters were intercepted. And
bo the miserable Turks, being destitute of all hope and succour, seeing
no other remedy, made out of their camp, to hazard and prove the
uttermost for their defence ; but, in conclusion, in their desperate ven-
ture they were inclosed about by our men on every side, and there
put to the sword and slain, a few only excepted, who, escaping out
very hardly by secret passages, shifted after the rest of their fellows,
i\"\n In as well as they could. Their carriage, and other furniture left behind
"' '""'' them in their tents, was distributed amongst the soldiers; only such
things reserved as might serve for the public use and commodity of
the city.
Merciful Thus, through the merciful protection and benefit of Almighty God,
fioTof Austria was delivered from the fierce and barbarous hostility of the
Gmi over crUel Turks, notwithstanding that neither Ferdinand the king, nor
don!!' " the emperor his brother, was there present ; but only the power of
God, through the valiantness of the worthy Germans, defended that
city, in defence whereof consisted the safety and deliverance, no doubt,
of all these west parts of Christendom : for which, immortal praise and
cod's thanks be unto our immortal God in Christ our Lord, according as
Jjl^sthng he hath of us most graciously and worthily deserved. Wherein, by
r" '•'inta'in- *"'1C wa)'' *aKC ^ms wr a n°te? gentle reader ! how and after what man-
enorui net God's blessing goeth with the true reformers of his religion; and
■Mp ami" so much the more is it to be noted, for that the Turks in so many
religion, battles and sieges heretofore, were never so repulsed and foiled, as at
this present time in encountering with the protestants, and defenders
of sincere religion. This city of Vienna was besieged and delivered,
a. i). 1529. The assaults of the Turk against the city are numbered
to be twenty, and his repulses as many. The number of his army
which he first brought, was 250,000, whereof were reckoned to be slain
eighty thousand and above. During the .time of his siege he led
away, out of the country about, many captives ; virgins and matrons
he quelled, and cast them out naked ; the children he stuck upon
stakes.
Solyman, thus put from the hope of the victory of Vienna, after he
had breathed himself a while at home, the second year after, which
was a. d. 1531, repairing his host, returned again into Hungary, with
no less multitude than before; where first he got the town called
( I mis, bring but slenderly kept with a small garrison, by reason whereof
tin townsmen and soldiers, yielding themselves unto the Turks, were
cod trained to agree upon unreasonable conditions.1
M'Miior Soitcrus, in his second book, writing ' De bello Pan-
nomco,1 touching the aforesaid town of Guns or Gunzium, differeth
herein something from Ramus, declaring how this Guns, being a
small town in Hungary, and having in it but only a hundred soldiers
(1) Ex Johanne Ramo,
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 63
(or, as Wolfgangus Drcclislcrus in his Chronicle reporteth, at the Soiyman.
most but two hundred soldiers), under the valiant captain Nicholas Nicholas
Jurescbitz defended themselves so manfully and wonderfully, through ^Itta
the notable power of God, against the whole puissance of two liun- valiant
dred thousand Turks, that they, notwithstanding being distressed capUin
with lack and penury of purveyance, and suddenly of the Turks
invaded, yet with pure courage and promptness of heart sustained the
uttermost force and violence of thirteen assaults of that great multi-
tude, for the space of twenty-five days together.
Although the narration of the author may seem to some incredible, Minwu-
yet thus he writeth, That what time the great ordnance and battering i""pieXof
pieces of the Turks were planted upon two mountains much higher ,he Lord's
than the town, whereby they within the town were oppressed both Son and
before and behind, insomuch that eight ensigns of the Turks were {J^e.
already within the town ; yet by reason of women and children, and
other impotent persons, who in the middle of the town were congre-
gated in a house together, such a noise and clamour went up to
heaven, praying and crying to God for help, that the Turks within
the Avails, supposing a new army of fresh soldiers to be sent into the
town, for sudden fear voided the town, and leaped down from the
walls again (which before they had got), whom no man either pur-
sued or resisted ; for never a soldier almost was left on the walls,
who was not either slain or else wounded with the Turks1 ordnance.
At that time, through the Lord's providence, it so happened, that one
Ibrahim Bassa, near about the Turk, seeing both the town to be
small, and the great destruction of the Turks in the siege thereof,
and that the captain in no case would yield, persuaded so the Turk,
declaring how the town, being so little, was not worth the loss of so
many men, in the winning whereof there was no glory, and if he were
repulsed, great dishonour might follow; whereby the Turk, being
persuaded, did follow his counsel, which was this : That Nicholas, the
christian captain, being called unto him under pledges and safe-
conduct, should receive the town as of his hand and gift, with con- raiseth
dition that he should do no violence to his soldiers left behind and ^^ese
wounded, but should procure such means as he could for the re-curing Guns,
of them. And so he, raising his siege, departed.
Another cause also, which moved him so suddenly to raise his
siege, might be for that he heard the Palatine not to be far off in
pursuing after him ; and therefore, taking his flight by the mountains
of the Noricians, he returned with much spoil of christian men's
goods unto Constantinople.1 For so it was provided the same time
in Germany, after the council of Augsburg and Ratisbone (at what
time the controversy of religion between the protestants and the
papists was deferred and set off to the next general council), that
Charles V., and Ferdinand his brother, having understanding of the
Turk thus ranging in Hungary, should collect of the Germans, Hun- The em_
garians, Spaniards, and others, an able army of eighty thousand foot- P,eror
men, and thirty thousand horsemen, to repulse the invasions of the and Fer-
Turk. But Soiyman, having intelligence of this preparation of the J^n'to
christian power coming toward him, whether for fear, or whether to J^L..
espy further opportunity of time for his more advantage and our the Turk.
(1) Ex Mclchiore Soit. lib. li. de bello Paul
(J4 THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
sotymau. detriment, refused at that time to tarry their coming ; and so, speeding
Lis return nnto Constantinople, retired with much spoil and prey sent
before him, as is above premised: which was a.d. 1532.
TtoTmk Not long after, being the year of our salvation, 1534, Solyman,
^^ intending two wars at once, first sent Conradine Barbarossa,
rfTunS tlu' a,nilir:U °f n^s navies> mto Africa, to war against the king of
Tunis ; whom then Barbarossa also dispossessed and deprived
of his kingdom : but Charles the emperor, the next year follow-
ing (a.d. 1535), restored the said king again into his kingdom,
and delivered in the same voyage twenty thousand captives out of
servitude.
The same time the Turk also sent another captain into Hungary,
to Avar against Vaivoda, while he himself, taking "his course to Persia,
Tauris planted his siege against the city Tauris, which he in short space
thrlj'i!/k subdued and expugned. Albeit he long enjoyed not the same ; for
Twenty Tuliaincs king of the Persians, suddenly coming upon the Turks un-
orthemd prepared, slew of them twenty thousand, and took his concubines, to
siain. tjie great f0il and reproach of the Turk.
cmeyra Two years after this, which was a. d. 1537, Solyman, who could
Md*8* no^ De (lluet a* home, nor rest in peace, returning again out of Asia
•polled, into Europe with two hundred and seventy ships, great and little, set
upon Corcyra, another island belonging to the Venetians, which he
besieged ten days, wasting and burning the towns and fields as he
unit, beside the destruction of much people therein, whom partly he
z.u-in- slew, partly he led away captives. From thence he sailed to Zacyn-
cythaw.d thus, and to Cythara, another island not far from Corcyra, bordering
•polled. near t0 t,]ie coasts 0f Epyrus and Greece, where he, suddenly by night
invading the husbandmen in villages and fields, sleeping and mis-
trusting no harm, drew them out of their houses and possessions,
faptivcf men and women, besides children, to the number of nine hundred,
chile- whom he made his bondslaves ; burning moreover their houses, and
tiau. earning away all the goods and cattle being without the said city of
Xacvnthus and Cythara.1
w.ir be- From thence these hellhounds turned their course to the siege and
SnrtT6 sPoil of Egina, a rich and populous island, lying between Greece and
i"llkl'e Asia' w,iere first tne Eginians did manfully in battle resist them, and
were like to have prevailed ; but being wearied at length, and op-
pressed with innumerable thousands of fresh Turks, who still were
sent in, to rescue the others who were overcome before, they were
compelled to fly into the city of Egina. That city the cruel Turks
(oi rather devils on earth), with much labour, and violence of their
jivat ordnance fetched out of their ships, subdued and cast down to
the ground ; the citizens and inhabitants whereof, the Turk, after he
had burned their houses, and ransacked their goods, commanded to
be dun and killed every one. The women, both noble and unnoble,
wKli their infants, were given to the mariners to be abused, and from
thence being shipped unto Constantinople, were led away to perpe-
tual misery and slavery ; which was a.d. 1537.
111 the same journey Solyman also took the isle in the said sea of
'nut",' x1''*-r""n- ,al1"1 Paros; also the isle adjoining to the same, named
\ ma, and made them to him tributaries; the duke whereof was he
(1) Ex Johan. C'rispo.
THE HISTORY OK THE TURKS. (',',
who wrote the story both of these islands aforesaid, and also of the Soigman.
other islands, called Cyclades ; and other dukes.1
This done, Solyman directed his navy unto Apulia, where he set
on land ten thousand footmen, and two thousand horsemen, who
spoiled, likewise, and wasted those parts, while the emperor, the pope,
and the Venetians, were together in war and dissension.2 Further-
more, the next year following (a.d. 1538), great attempts began in
Stiria ; but, by the resistance of the inhabitants, the force of the
barbarous Turks was repulsed, notwithstanding great spoils of men
and cattle were carried from thence, and the country miserably spoiled.
In that year also, the Turk, turning into Hungary, gave battle unto
the Christians in Savia ; where, through the fraudulent falsehood of the
captain Cassianerus (Wolfgangus nameth him Calcianus), being (as
they say) corrupted with money, our men were put to the worse,
a.d. 1538.
After the Turks had invaded the island of Corcyra abovesaid, the False-
Venetians, with Solyman the Turk, had joined truce for a certain ^° %°Jlk
time, for which they gave the Turk three hundred thousand crowns, with thi;
with the city of Neapolis, and Maluasia, in the borders of Mace- tfent
donia. But within four or five years, the Turk, to get a new
stipend of the Venetians, brake his league, and invaded their domi-
nions, whereby they were enforced to enter new conditions again
with him.
In the year of our Lord 1540, the restless Turk, making his return Novum
toward Hungary, by the way passing by Dalmatia, lay against the SS^et.
town called Novum Castellum, being defended by the Spaniards; in thrown by
which town, because they refused to yield themselves, all the inha- theTurk-
bitants and soldiers were put to the sword, and slain every one. This
Novum Castellum, or New Castle, was a strong fort of the Christians,
which being now in the Turk's power, he had great advantage over
all those quarters of Dalmatia, Stiria, Carinthia, and Hungary. From
thence he proceeded further, keeping his course into Hungary, where
he planted his power against the city of Buda. This Buda was a
principal city in Hungary, about which great contention had been (as conten-
ye have heard before) between Johannes Vaivoda and Ferdinand ; by Hungary
reason whereof the Turk, occasioned by Vaivoda, came into Hungary, between
and delivered the city to Vaivoda. This Vaivoda, living not long nand and
after, left behind him a son, whom, being an infant, he committed to JnThw*
the government of one Georgius Monachus, who, being left tutor suc
unto the infant, reduced all Transylvania, Buda, Pest, with other
parts of Hungary, which belonged to Vaivoda before, to the subjec-
tion of the child. Ferdinand, hearing thereof, in a great haste and
anger levied an army to recover his lands in Hungary, and bo laid
siege to Buda. Monachus, seeing his party weak, first sent his legate
to Ferdinand, desiring him to talk and confer with him upon matters,
as he pretended, pertaining to the behoof of them both : whereupon,
both the parties being agreed, the place and manner of their conven-
tion was appointed, and also the day and time assigned. Thur* the
parties, according to the agreement, conventing together wi/.h their
(1) Ex Johanne Crispo, Buce Xaxi, £ c.
(2) Note what hurt conieth by the dissension of christian priiires.
(8) Stiria is a country or province nearly adjoining to Austria.
vol . IV. .,
son}.
G(J THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
soigman. armies, withdrawing a little aside, as they were entered in communi-
comm.i- cation, suddenly among Ferdinand's men happened a dag to be heard,
"j*rthm which, by the heat of the day, as is thought, loosing of its own accord,
Mo..a- gave a crack ; the sound whereof coming to the ears of Monachus,
Fherdi-"d he, supposing the same to have been discharged against him, in great
what anger drew out his sword, bidding Ferdinand avaunt with his doubling
tiunuiay dissimulation, saying, that he would never anymore trust the pro-
raTsus- mises of Christians. And immediately upon the same, he sent to
pidon. ^u]vllian ti,e Turk for aid against the Christians, promising that he
would surrender to him free possession of Hungary, if he would come
The Turk and vanquish the army of Ferdinand lying about the siege of Buda.
a'ain into T11C Turk maketli no long tarrying, but taketh the occasion, and
liun-ary. vvit], a mighty power flieth into Hungary, and eftsoons discharging
the host of Ferdinand, and putting them off from the siege of Buda,
getteth the city into his own hands, commanding the son of Vaivoda,
with his mother, to follow after his camp.
In the history of Johannes Ramus it followeth, that when Sol yman
the Turk had thus prevailed against the city of Buda aforesaid, and
against other parts besides of Hungary, by the assent of the empire,
one Joachim, duke of Brandenburg, prince elector, was assigned with
a puissant army of chosen soldiers of all nations collected, to recover
the city of Buda from the Turk, and to deliver the other parts of
cowardly Christendom from the fear of the Turk [a.d. 1542] ; which Joachim,
Joachim,
at his first setting forth, appeared so courageous and valiant, as though
Branu'cn- ^1C M'ou^ nave conquered the whole world. But this great heat was
I'urg, so slacked in short time by the Turk, that before any great jeopardy
the Turk, was offered unto him, he was glad to be discharged of the viage, and
with shame enough returned home again. And would God he had
left behind him in the fields no more but his own shame ! for the
enemies having intelligence before of his cowardly departure, thinking
to work some point of mastery or victory before his going, did set
upon the right wing of his army (which chiefly consisted of Dutch-
a num- men of Low Germany), out of which they took away with them above
christian five hundred strong and valiant soldiers, not killing them, but carrying
them away alive : for whom it had been much better to have stood
theJurks. to their weapon, and to have died manfully upon the Turks, than by
yielding themselves, to be disgarnished of weapon and armour, and so
to be left to the cursed courtesy of the foul Turks. To whom what
courtesy was showed, by the sequel did appear. For, after the Turks
Dunlth* ^ 'ct* ^lcm out °^ Hungary into their own dominions, after a most
horrible and beastly sort they disfigured and mangled them ; and so
111. tits
victory. Their kind of punishment was thus: first, they had their
right arm thrust through with an iron red hot, whereby they should
be unable and unmeet to all labour and warfare : secondly, their
heads vera shaven to the very sculls, after the manner of our friars
and monks, when they are newly shaven : thirdly, they were all most
dreadfully mutilated; which wound was so grievous unto them, that
'lest part of them died thereupon : the lew that recovered the
tormenl thereof, led a life more bitter and more miserable than death
itself. Ami tins kind of cruelty was executed in order upon them all.
In much like sort did cruel Pharaoh exercise his tyranny against the
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
G7
people of God in Egypt ; who, to destroy the generation of them, sohjman.
caused all the male children to be drowned in the river. Whereby
it is the more to be hoped, that seeing the tyranny of this Turkish Pha-
raoh is come to such an extremity, the merciful goodness of God will
the more shortly send some Moses or other, unto us, for our speedy
deliverance. This was by the cruel Turks done, a.d. 1542, wit-
nessed by Johannes Ramus, who not only writeth the story, but by
the testimony also of his own eyes recordcth the same to be true,
beholding with his eyes one of the same number in the city of Vienna,
who, having wife and children in Brussels, either for shame or sorrow,
had no mind to return home to his own house.1
But to return again to the city of Buda, from whence we have Falseness
digressed ; "here is not to be pretermitted what falsehood and what iJah in
cruelty the Turks used toward the Christians there after their victory. j^"_g
For, after that Solyman the Turk, upon the yielding and submission of miwwith
the men of Buda, had given to them his promise of safety and life, tians.
within a short time the said Turk, picking a quarrel with them for
selling oxen unto the Christians, and for bargaining with them, slew
all the magistrates of the said city of Buda : like as in all other cities,
wheresoever the Christians yielded unto him, he never, or very rarely,
kept his promise with them, neither did ever any Christians speed
better with the Turk, than they who most constantly did resist him.
And as his promise with the magistrates of Buda was false and Horrible
wretched, so his cruelty with the soldiers thereof, was much more " the e
notorious and abominable. For in the expugnation of Buda, amongst of"6,1,1/'
the rest who were slain, two cohorts or bands of christian soldiers Turks.
came alive to his hands. To whom, when he seemed at the first to
grant pardon of life, he commanded to put on their armour again, and
to dispose themselves in order and battle array, after the warlike
manner of the Christians ; which when they had accomplished readily,
according to his commandment, and he, riding about the ranks of
them, had diligently viewed and beholden them a certain space, at
length he commanded them to put off their armour again. This
done, certain of the tallest and strongest of them he picked out ; the
residue he commanded, by his soldiers coming behind them with
swords, to be cut in pieces and slain. Of the others, whom he had
elected and chosen, some he set for marks and butts to be shot at ;
some he appointed to his two sons, for them to slash with their swords
and try their strength, which of them could give the deeper wound,
and (as they termed it) the fairer blow, whereby the most blood might
follow out of their christian bodies.2
After the winning of Buda, the Turk, purposing not so to cease
before he had subdued and brought under his obedience all Hungary;
proceeding further with his army, first, brought under a strong hold
of the Christians, named Pestum or Pest, where a great number of
christian soldiers partly were slain, partly were led away to more cruel
affliction.
Then he came to another castle called Walpo, situate in the con- Thcoas-
fines of Bosnia, Croatia, and Hungary, which fort or castle he be- Po %ou; '
sieged three months, while no rescue or aid was sent unto them,
tl) Ex Johanne Ramo de Rebus Turcicis, lib. ii.
(2) Ex Epist. Mart. Stcll.t Ue Succcssibus Turcarum, &-c.
63 THE HISTORY OK THE TURKS.
soiymnn. neither from Ferdinand king of Hungary, nor from any other chris-
tian prince or princes : whereupon, at length, the fort was given up
to the Turk, but more through the false treachery, or cowardly heart
a notaUe 0f the soldiers, than of the captain. Wherein is to be noted an ex-
" Go^f" ample not unworthy of memory ; for when the cowardly soldiers,
menti cither for fear or flattery, would needs surrender themselves and the
UgbHng p]ace unto the Turk, contrary to the mind of the captain, who in no
i case would agree to their yielding, they, thinking to find favour with
hUahood the Turk, apprehended their captain and gave him to Solyman. But
toward see ]10W the justice of God, sometimes by the hand of the enemy,
cent disposcth the end of things to the rewarding of virtue and punishing
of vice. For where they thought to save themselves by the danger
of the faithful captain, the event turned clean contrary ; so that the
Turk was to the captain bountiful and very liberal, and the soldiers,
notwithstanding that they had all yielded themselves, yet were all put
to death, and commanded piteously to be slain.1
me city There is in Hungary another town, bearing the name of the Five
cinches0 Churches, called Quinque Ecclesise, which being partly spoiled
gelded to before, as is above-mentioned, but now, through the loss of Walpo,
Turks, and by the hugeness of the Turk's army (containing in it two hun-
The dred and twenty thousand fighting men) so discouraged, and put out
bi^op of hope and heart, that the bishop and chief nobles of the town, fled
his nock before the jeopardy : the rest of the commons, who were partly pre-
biiers. vented by the sudden coming of the Turks, partly for poverty, could
not avoid, sent their messengers to the Turk, to yield and surrender
the town, upon promise of life, into his hands ; whose promise how firm
it stood, the story leaveth it uncertain. This is affirmed, that three
days after the yielding of this Quinque Ecclesise, never a Turk durst
enter the city. a. d. 1543.2
sociosia, The next fort or hold gotten by the Turks in Hungary, was So-
Hnngary, elosia. The town, at the first invasion of the Turks, was won, sacked,
subdued. ami fjre(j# rpne cast]e wjthin the town did something hold out. for a
time; and first requiring truce for fourteen days, to see what aid
should be sent unto them ; and to deliberate upon the conditions that
should be proposed unto them, after the fourteen days expired, they,
trusting to the situation and munition of the place, which was very
strong, began, for a certain space, stoutly to put back the enemy.
But afterwards, seeing their walls to be battered, their foundations to
VJltX snake_ (for the Turk had set twelve thousand underminers under
the ditches of the castle), and their strength to diminish, and mis-
.' doubting themselves not to be able long to hold out, agreed in like
manner to yield themselves, upon condition to escape with life and
goods : which condition of saving their goods was the losing of their
fives, especially of the richer sort; for the Turks perceiving by that
Tbt condition that they were of wealth and substance, omitting the inferior
[,'.','* ,i, "r 1,:iMT s,>rti ,(" "l""1 the wealthy men for their riches, and slew
them every one. a.d. 1548.8 In the which his history, this is also
to Denoted, that during the time the castle of Sociosia was besieged,
ill'' nUages and pages round about the same, came of their own ac-
cord, submitting and yielding themselves unto the Turk, bringing in,
fel thej were commanded, all kind of victual and forage into the
Hartino Stella de rurcarum in Hungaria sm-ecssibus, &c.
THE HISTOliY OF THE TURKS. \}\f
Turk's camp : which done, Solyman the Turk commanded all the Soiyman.
headmen of the pages to appear before him, who humbly obeyed and Kxaniple
came. Then the Turk warned them to return again the next day £jjj£th
after, every one bringing with him his inferior retinue and household i>y Cbris-
servants ; which when they had with like diligence also, according to his ,',','!',', s
commandment, accomplished, the Turk immediately commanded them ^e^.ng
every one, in the face of his whole army to be slain : and so was this Turk,
their reward : which reward, the more it deelareth the bloody cruelty
of the Turk, the more encouragement it may minister to our men the
more constantly to withstand him.1
Another strong town there is in Hungary, named Stricgau, distant stri^o-
from Buda abovesaid the space of five Dutch miles, against which the atrfega"
Turks made great preparation of ordnance, and all other instruments J^t';,f d
of artillery necessary for the siege thereof; which city, in like man- Turk.
ner, began also to be compassed and inclosed by the Turks, before it
could be sufficiently prepared and garnished by our men, but only that
the archbishop of Striegau privily conveyed unto them two hundred
oxen ; such was then the negligence of Ferdinand, king of Hungary,
who so slenderly looked unto the necessary defence of his towns and
cities. Moreover, such was the discord then of christian kings and Negii-
princes, who in their civil dissension and wars were so occupied and christian
hot in needless quarrels, that they had neither leisure nor remem- gi£8 in
brance to help in time, there, where true need required : which slender defence.
care and cold zeal of the christian rulers, in not tendering the public
cause, while they contended in private trifles, hath caused the Turk
to come so far as he hath ; and yet further is like, unless the mercy
of the Lord do help, more than our diligence. One of the chief cap-
tains within the city was Martin us Lascanus, a Spaniard.
The Turks, in the beginning of the siege, began first to tempt
the citizens, with fair words and accustomed promises, to yield and
gently to submit themselves; but they, not ignorant of the Turk's
promises, wisely refused, and manfully stood so long asthey could to the
defence of their city ; now and then skirmishing with them in out-cor-
ners, and killing certain numbers of them ; sometimes with their shot
disturbing their munitions, and breaking the wheels of their guns, &c.
Three special means the Turks use in winning great forts and Three
.. r, , . i 1 • special
cities : great multitude of soldiers ; great ordnance and mortar pieces ; helps or
the third is by undermining : all which here, in the siege of this city, theTurks-
lacked not. This siege continued vehement a certain space; in
which the Striegaunians had borne out four strong assaults, and slain
many thousands of the Turks ; till at length the Turks either depart-
ing away, or else seeming to depart unto Buda, the people at last
being so persuaded and made to believe of some chief rulers of the
city (peradventure not the truest men), the citizens, being erected
with hope and comfort, and singing Te Deum, as though the city had
been free from all danger, suddenly (by whose counsel it is unknown)
conveyed themselves all out of the city : three hundred horsemen ^^*
also passed over the river and departed. The Italians, who were Btrtegra
under Franciscus Salamanca, a Spanish captain, hardly could be per- dty 'c
suaderl by him to abide, who were in all scarce six hundred.
Within three days after, three hundred German soldiers, with two
(I) Ex Martino Stella.
-,, THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
soiyman. bUds laden witli shot, powder, and artillery, were privily let into the
— town, so that of our men in all there were scarce one thousand three
dMuS^" hundred soldiers; who, seeing the small quantity of their number,
ed' burning and casting down the town and suburbs, took them to the
castle; from whence they beat off the Turks valiantly with their
ordnance a good space, and with wildfire destroyed great companies
of them, till at last, seeing their walls to fail them, and the whole
castle to shake by undermining, but especially by the working of a
certain Italian surnamed Presbyter, they gave over. This Italian,
whether for fear or falsehood, secretly, unknown to the rest of the
soldiers, accompanied by two others, conveyed himself down from the
walls, and being brought into the tents of the next captain or bassa
of the Turks, there, in the name of all his fellows, con vented with the
An u.v Turks, to give up to them the castle : whereupon the Turks were bid
tayteM- t0 cease tne shooting. This Italian, shortly after, with two other
i»f-; »ie Turks, was sent back to Salamanca, his captain, with the Turk's mes-
striegau sage. The going out of this Italian being privy to the residue of his
Turk0 fellows, contrary to the laws and discipline of Avar, although it seemed
to come of his own head, yet, forasmuch as the other soldiers were not
sure, but rather suspected lest the other Italians, his countrymen,
had been in some part of consent therein, and would take his part,
they neither durst offer him any harm for that his doing, nor yet
could well advise with themselves what was best to do, for fear of
privy confederacy, within themselves.
a Turk- Thus, while Lascanus the chief captain of the Christians aforesaid,
taken"" *&h his fellow-soldiers, were in a maze what to do, or not to do ; in
ciids-'10 the mean time came one running, who giving a sign both to the Chris-
tiani, tians and the Turks to hold their hands and weapons, for that it was
knowing against all law of war to fight after peace and truce taken, our men,
thea-of. as t]iey were commanded, went into the inward tower. The Turks,
in the mean time, had got into the castle, and occupied all the outer
parts. Then was Salamanca, by the consent of the rest, sent out to
the Turk, who, being stayed there that night, the next morrow the
Turk's bull or warrant Avas sent into the castle, permitting free liberty
The false to the Christians to depart with bag and baggage ; who now being
ve'/trao0* ready to depart, first were commanded by the Turks, compassing them
JJj.P[°- round about, to cast from them their dags, lances, and battleaxes, into
the trench. Then coming to the gate to go out, their swords were taken
from them, looking then for nothing but present death.
At last, when they were come a little further, others were sent to
them to discharge them of their helmets, their targets, cuirasses, and
Miserable whatsoever piece of harness was about them : whereupon great fear
" came upon them, lest some great cruelty should be showed upon them.
1 Bolyman, after he had long deliberated with himself, whether to kill
them or not, at last, contrary to all expectation, granted their lives :
but, before they should be dismissed, he first caused them, in derision
•'I ( 'liristiauity, to be baited with scorns and mocks throughout all the
'I urkish army; and so the next day commanded them, being stript
"ut ot then- coats and apparel, to be reduced again into the castle by
companies, setting over them certain Turks with cudgels and bats to
,:|.V "I""1 1,l(ir backs and sides, causing them to bury the dead car-
et! et, and to gather up the rubbish broken down from the castle-walls,
THE HISTORY OF THK TIKKS. 71
nnd to scour the ditches. This done, the next day following lie de- Soiyman.
inanded of them, by an interpreter, whether they would enter wages Holy soi-
with him, and take horse and armour to serve him in his wars ; which |j|£tj«d
condition, divers for fear were contented to take, seeing no other ffii\
remedy to avoid present death. Sonic, neither bv menacing words, for their
nor for any fear of death, could be compelled thereunto ; of whom [Idigkra,
certain, who stood stoutly in refusing thereof, were presently
slain, whom I may worthily recite in the number and catalogue of
holy martyrs.
Of the aforesaid Christians, part were carried over the river Danube,
not without great villany, and contumely most despiteful. For some
had their wives taken from them, and earned away; some had their wives
abused before their face ; and such as made or showed any resistance
thereat, had their wives before them cast into the river and drowned ;
also their infants and young children, being appointed by the Turks
to the abominable order of the Janizaries, mentioned before, their
parents, not consenting thereunto, were precipitated and thrown into
the river, and drowned. All these things are testified by John
Martin Stella, in his epistles in print extant, written to his two
brethren, William and Michael ; which Martin Stella, moreover,
addeth and affirmeth this : that he himself, being the same time at
Vienna, did see one of the aforesaid wives, who, being held fast by
the hair of the head, yet notwithstanding, having her hair plucked
off, cast herself into the river Danube, for the singular love to her
husband, and so swam to the ship where he was. And thus this mi-
serable company of Germans, Spaniards, and Italians mixed together,
macerated with labours, with hunger pined, with watchings, dolors,
and sorrow consumed, came at length to Schinda.
When the tidings thereof were noised at Vienna, partly with fear Divers
and dread, partly Avith indignation, all men's hearts were moved and °J? "™ua
vexed diversely. Some thought them not worthy to be received into J^nni"
their city, showing themselves so dastardly and cowardly. Others touching
thought again, that mercy was to be showed unto them, and com- Jrabi""
mended their fact, for that they, being so few, and unfurnished with aid, "0^-e^
neither able to match by any means with such an innumerable multi-
tude of the Turks, kept themselves till better time might serve them.
But howsoever the matter was to be thought of, the captains brought
the poor remnant of that rueful company unto Possidonium, where
the said captains were laid fast, and there kept in durance, to render
account of the whole matter, how it was wrought and handled. And
thus have ye the lamentable story of Striegau.
The Turk proceeding in his victories, conducted his army next unto Tata sub-
Tata, and to the parts lying near about Comaron. This Tata was u^d ''y
also a stronghold in Hungary, wherein were placed certain garrisons, Turks-
partly of the Germans, partly of the Italians. The chieftain of the
Italians was one Annibal Tasso, constituted by Philippus Tornelius. victory
This Tasso was a man well expert in prowess of war, but of a filthy ha,hs"e"
corrupt life, and also a foul swearer, and horrible blasphemer of God cess uu-
and his saints. To make the story short, this fort of Tata, before any wicked
siege was laid unto it, was yielded and given up to the Turks ; upon a^,,a'"'
what conditions, or by whose means, the author showeth not. Tims iwoawr.
much he showeth, that the said Annibal, shortly upon the same,
The
Turka'
device in
the
Turks,
yj thk history of the turks.
st^man. returning into Italy, was commanded by Tornelius aforesaid, U) be
apprehended and beheaded.
Aiba Re- After the Turks had subverted and destroyed the fort of Tata, they
SegedL* turned tlieir power against Alba, surnamed Regalis, for that the kings
of Hungary have been always wont there to be crowned and buried.
This Alba is a little well-compacted city in Hungary, having on the
one side a marsh somewhat foggish or fenny, which made the town less
assaultable. But, near to the same was a wood, from which the Turks
every day, with six hundred carts, brought such matter of wood, and
">' trees, felled for the purpose, into the marsh, that, within less than
w'arsh. twelve davs, they made it apt and hard to their feet ; which the towns-
men thought never could be gone upon, but only in the hard frosts
strata- of winter. At the first beginning of the siege, there stood, a little
&?< 'ifris- without the munitions, in the front of the city, a certain church or
1 ■*»■ monastery, into which the citizens, pretending to maintain and keep
against the Turks, had privily conveyed light matter easily to take
flame, with powder in secret places thereof, and had hid also fire
withal : which done, they (as against their wills being driven back)
withdrew themselves within the munitions, waiting the occasion when
this fire would take. Thus the Turks having the possession of the
church, suddenly the fire coming to the powder, raised up the church,
and made a great scatter and slaughter among the barbarous Turks.
This was not so soon espied of them within the town, but they issued
out upon them in this disturbance, and slew of them a gTeat number.
Among whom, divers of their nobles also the same time were slain,
and one bassa, a eunuch, who was of great estimation with the Turks.
a note Moreover, in the same skirmish was take none of those gunners, which
touching ^c pronc]1 j^g js ga^ to jiave gent £0 tjje Turk a little before :
Engthat wmcb if it be true, let the christian reader judge what is to be thought
Sen was. of those christian princes, who, not only forsaking the common cause
of Christ's church, joined league with the Turk, but also sent him
gunners to set forward his wars to the destruction of Christ's people,
and to the shedding of their blood ; for whom they know the blood
of Christ to be shed. If this be not true, I show mine author ;l if it
be, then let the pope see and mark well, how this title of ' Christian-
i-Minus1 can well agree with such doings.
But to let this matter sleep, although the Turks, (as ye heard) had
won the fen, with their policy and industry, against the city of Alba,
yet all this while the Albanes were nothing inferior to their enemies,
through the valiant help and courageous endeavour of Octavianus
Scruzatus, a captain of Milan, by whose prudent counsel and constant
standing, the busy enterprises of the Turks did little prevail a long
time ; till at length, suddenly arose a thick fog or mist upon the city,
whereas, round about besides, the sun did shine bright. Some said
it came by art magical, but rather it may appear to rise out of the
bn or marsh, being so pressed down withmehs feet, and other matter
laid upon it.
Ti.rr.ut- J lie Turks using the occasion of this misty darkness, in secret wise
vaiUfot approaching the walls, had got up to a certain fortress Avhere the Ger-
Tulki. nana "rere, before our men could well perceive them; where they
pressed in bo thick, and in such number, that albeit the christian
|1) Ex Epist. John. Marti. Stella .id fratrcs do Turear. in Hungaria successlbus.
swim as well as they could into the city, where many of them, stick- dj
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. i O
soldiers, standing strongly to the defence of their lives, did what ^l— '
valiant men in cases of such extremity were able to do ; yet, being
overmatched by the multitude of the Turks, and the suddenness of
their coming, they gave back, seeking to retire unto the inward walls,
which when their other fellows did see to recule, then was there flying
of all hands, every man striving to get into the city. There was
between the outward walls or vaumures, and inward gate of the city,
a strait or narrow passage, cast up in the manner of a bank or cause-
way, ditched on both sides, which passage or ingress happened at the
same time to be barred and stopped ; by reason whereof the poor Miserable
to '
tian sol-
ing in the mud, were drowned, one pressing upon another : many
were slain of their enemies coming behind them, they having neither
heart nor power to resist. A few, who could swim out, were received
into the city ; but the chief captains and warders of the town were
there slain.
The citizens, being destitute of their principal captains and war-
riors, were in great perplexity and doubt among themselves what to
do, some thinking good to yield, some counselling the contrary.
Thus, while the minds of the citizens were distracted in divers and
doubtful sentences, the magistrates, minding to stand to the Turk's
gentleness,1 sent out one of their heads unto the Turk, who, in the
name of them all, should surrender to him the city, and become unto
him tributaries, upon condition they might enjoy liberty of life and
goods. This being to them granted, after the Turkish faith and as-
surance ; first, the soldiers who were left within the city, putting ofF
their armour, were discharged and sent away; who, being but only three
hundred left of four ensigns of Italians, and of one thousand Ger-
mans, by the way were laid for by the Tartarians for hope of their
spoil ; so that they, scattering asunder one one way, and another
another, to save themselves as well as they could, fled every one what
way he thought best ; of whom, some wandering in wroods and
marshes fainted for famine ; some were taken and slain by the Hun-
garians : a few, with bare, empty, and withered bodies, more like
ghosts than men, escaped, and came to Vienna. And this befell upon
the soldiers.
Now understand what happened to the yielding citizens. So in the
story it followeth, that when the Turk had entered the town, and had
visited the sepulchre of the kings, for three or four days he pretended
much clemency toward the citizens, as though he came not to oppress
them, but to be revenged of Ferdinand their king, and to deliver
them from the servitude of the Germans. On the fourth day, all the what it is
chief and head men of the city were commanded to appear before the {^j1,^"
Turk, in a plain not far from the city, where the condemned persons ■"**?
i 1111 111 stIck l0
before were wont to be executed, as though they should come to his pro-
swear unto the Turk. At this commandment of the Turk, when the mise'
citizens in great number, and in their best attire were assembled, the
Turk, contrary to his faith and promise, commanded suddenly a
general slaughter to be made of them all. And this was the end of
the citizens of Alba.
(1) Let good Christiana never stand to the Turk's gentleiteu.
74 THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
Mpm. In tlic mean time, during the siege of Alba, the Hungarians,.
JIalf a meeting sometimes with the horsemen of the Tartarians, who were
>'ou"p sent out to stop their victuals from the city, slew of them, at one
found in bickering, three thousand Turks : in which story is also reported and
ei'of aCh' mentioned of mine author, a horrible sight and example of misery,
coming concerning a certain captain (a Christian belike), who, coming unto
ftomtha Vienna, was found to have in his scrip or satchel the half of a young
child of two years old, which remained yet uneaten, the other half
being eaten before, a.d. 1543.1
Next after this, was expugned the castle of Papa by the Turks.
Let the castle of ' Papa1 now take heed, lest one day it follow after !
visegrade The like fidelity the Turks also kept with the fort of Visegrade,
brthef"1 an(l tne s°luiers thereof. This Visegrade is situate in the mid-way
Turks, between Buda and Striegau ; of which fort or castle, the highest
tower so mounteth upon the hill, that unless it be for famine or lack
of water, they have not to dread any enemy. Notwithstanding so it
happened, that the lower piece being won, they in the higher tower
abiding four days without drink, were compelled, with liberty granted
The false of life and goods, to yield themselves. But the devilish Turks,
theTuxks keeping no faith nor promise, slew them every one : only Petrus
'thr'ruris Amandus, the captain of the piece, excepted ; who privily was con-
tians. ' vcyed by the captain of the Turks, out of the slaughter, a.d. 1544.
Novum To these, moreover, may be added the winning of Novum Cas-
Cumte!n tellum, in Dalmatia, where he slew all that were within, both soldiers
Datoatia and others, for that they did not yield themselves in time. Thus the
theTu'rks. Turk, whether they yielded to him or not, never spared the people
and flock of Christ.
As the false and cruel Turk was thus raging in Hungary, and
intended further to rage without all mercy and pity of the Christians,
and might easily then have prevailed and gone whither he would, for
_. that Charles the emperor, and Francis the French kin"1, were at the
Discord . . l l "Y> ii i i •
of elms- same tune in war and hostility, and also other christian princes; as
priacei. Henry, duke of Brunswick, against John Frederic, duke of Saxony ;
The pro- also princes and rulers were contending among themselves : behold
(;','„'] "l,'r" the gracious providence of our Lord and God toward us, who, seeing
t1ian8.hris" tllc misery, and having pity of his poor Christians, suddenly, as with
wcasTonrk ? snan:H reined this raging beast, and brought him out of Europe
ed to re- into his own country again, by occasion of the Persians, who were
.Vf Ku'rope tnen in great preparation of war against the Turks, and had invaded his
dominion ; by reason whereof the Turks were kept there occupied,
fighting with the Persians a long continuance. Which wars at length
being achieved and finished (wherein the said Turk lost great victories,
with slaughter of many thousands of his Turks), he\vas not only
provoked by the instigation of certain evil disposed Hungarians, but
also occasioned by the discord of christian princes, to return again
into Europe, in hope to subdue all the parts thereof unto his domi-
nion. Whereunto when he had levied an army incredible of such a
multitude of Turks, as the like hath not lightly been heard of, see
again the merciful providence and protection of our God toward his
people. As the Turk was thus intending to set forward with his
innumerable multitude against the Christians, the hand of the Lord
11 Bl i:,msI. Marti. Stella ad fratres ds Turcar. in Kfl&gWTM successions.
nitu Asia.
THE HISTORY OF THE TL'KKS. 75
sent such a pestilence through all the Turk's army and dominion, suiymnn.
reaching from Bithynia, and from Thrace to Macedonia, and also to
Hungary, that all the Turk's possession seemed almost nothing else,
but as a heap of dead corpses, whereby his voyage for that time was
stopped, and he almost compelled to seek a new army.
Besides this plague of the Turks aforesaid, which was worse to Another
them than any war, other lets also and domestic calamities, through of 3°
God's providence, happened unto Solyman, the great rover and robber 2™vc'e~
of the world, which stayed him at home from vexing the Christians ;
especially touching his eldest son, Mustapha.
This Mustapha being hated, and partly feared of Rustan, the chief
councillor about the Turk, and of Rosa, the Turk's concubine and
afterwards his wife, was divers times complained of to his father,
accused, and at length so brought into suspicion and displeasure of
the Turk, by them aforesaid, that, in conclusion, his father caused him
to be sent for to his pavilion, where six Turks with visors were ap-
pointed to put him to death : who, coming upon him, put, after their
manner, a smal'l cord or bow-string full of knots about his neck, and
so, throwing him down upon the ground, not suffering him to speak
one word to his father, with the twitch thereof throttled and strangled soiyman
him to death, his father standing in a secret corner by, and beholding eth Mus-
the same. Which fact being perpetrated, afterwards, when the Turk own^on!"
would have given to another son of his and of Rosa, called Gianger,
the treasures, horse, armour, ornaments, and the province of Mustapha
his brother, Gianger, crying out for sorrow of his brother's death :
" Fye of thee !" saith he to his father, " thou impious and wretched
dog, traitor, murderer ; I cannot call thee father. Take the treasures,
the horse, and the armour of Mustapha to thyself ;" and with that,
taking out his dagger, thrust it through his own body. And thus
was Solyman murderer and parricide of his own sons : which was in
a.d. 1552.
Herein, notwithstanding, is to be noted the singular providence The lov-
and love of the Lord toward his afflicted Christians. For this Mas- dence of
tapha, as he was courageous and greatly expert and exercised in all fo/ijjs™1
practice of war, so had he a cruel heart, maliciously set to shed the jj£*j""
blood of Christians : wherefore great cause have we to congratulate,
and to give thanks to God, for the happy taking away of this Mus-
tapha. And no less hope also and good comfort we may conceive of
our loving Lord hereby ministered unto us, to think that our merciful Go°<i
God, after these sore afflictions of his Christians under these twelve Gods
Turks afore recited, now, after this Solyman, intendeth some gracious JjJE^Si
good work to Christendom, to reduce and release us out of this so long ^^
and miserable Turkish captivity, as may be hoped now, by taking tians.
away these young imps of this impious generation, before they should
come to work their conceived malice against us : the Lord therefore
be glorified and praised. Amen !
Moreover, as I was writing hereof, opportunely came to my hands Good
a certain writing out of Germany, certifying us of such news and theTurta
victory of late achieved against the Turk, as may not a little increase p^Ja^
our hope, and comfort us, touching the decay and ruin of the Turk's thechris-
powcr and tyranny against us ; which news are these : That after the
Turkish tyrant had besieged, with an army of 30,000 men. the famous
~<j THE H1ST0KV OK THE TLKKS
socman, and strong town and castle of Gyula, in Hungary lying forty Dutch
miles beyond the river Danube, which city had by the space ot six
weeks sustained many grievous assaults, God, through his great mercy
and goodness, so comforted the said town of Gyula, and the poor
Christians therein, at their earnest prayers, that the Turk, with all his
host, was driven back by the hands of the general, called Karetshim
Laslaw, and his valiant company ; who not only defended the said
town, but also- constrained the Turks to retire, to their great shame
and confusion, with a great slaughter of the Turkish rabble ; for which
the everlasting God be praised for ever.
The manner of the overthrow was this : As the aforesaid general
Kand did see his advantage, with captain George and other horsemen of the
IVaYn s Silesians and Hungarians, they set on the rearward of the Turks, and
killed about eight thousand of them, and took also some of their
artillery, and followed them so fast, that the Turks were constrained
to flee into a marshy ground, and to break the wheels of the rest 01
their artillery to save themselves ; and therewith they got a very rich
booty, rescuing besides, and taking from the Turks, a great number 01
Chris- christian prisoners. Like thanks are also to be given to God, for the
'-uedand prosperous success given to Magotsehy, the valiant captain of Erlan,
take..3" who, making toward the Turks and encountering with the Tartarians,
TurkSthe slew of them about eight hundred.'
a great Not long after this it happened, through the like providence of
captain our Q0(\, that a Turkish captain called Begen. accompanied with a
Torta thousand fresh horsemen, came newly out of Turkey, to go toward the
citv named Quinque Ecclesise, or Fiinfkirchen, with whom the
carl of Serin, by the way, did encounter, and in the night, setting upon
him, killed the captain, and took eight camels, and eight mules laden
with treasure, and also got two red guidons,1 with a whole great piece
of rich cloth of gold, and with another fair and strange jeAvel. The
horse of this aforesaid Turkish captain was betrapped and decked
most richly ; the saddle whereof had the pommel and back part
covered over with plate of fine Arabic gold, and the rest of the saddle,
besides the sitting place, was plated with silver very fair gilded. The
scat of the saddle was covered with purple velvet ; the trappings and
bridle beset with little turquoises and rubies : which horse was sent
to Vienna, unto the emperor Maximilian, for a present.
Although the earl would very fain have saved the captain, not
knowing what he was, yet the Janizaries, labouring to carry away
their captain, so stiffly defended themselves, that the earl, with his
company, was constrained to kill both them and their captain. From
whom the said earl of Serin, the same time, got fifteen thousand
Turkish and Hungarian ducats; which money was brought for the
payment of the Turkish soldiers in the aforesaid town of Fiinf-
Ivirchen. All which be good beginnings of greater goodness to
be hoped for hereafter, through the grace of Christ our Lord; espe-
cially if our christian rulers and potentates, first, the churchmen and
prelates for their parts, then, the civil powers and princes for their
parts, withholding their affections a little, will turn their brawls and
variance into I irothcrly concord and agreement; which the Lord of
Peace put in their minds to d<>. Amen ! Or otherwise, if it will so
and
I : ■ OumI.'hn,"' standards.— Ed
THE HISTORY OF THE TIKKS. "7
please the Lord that the Turk conic further upon us, so'as lie hath Soigmam
begun for our punishment and castigation, his grace then give to the i^
flock of his poor Christians, constancy of faith, patience in suffering, T"rk.s
and amendment of life. For so I understand by public fame, although Suoitafy.
uncertainly rumoured by the voice of some, that the Turks1 power of
late, this present year of our Lord, 156"b', hath pierced the parts of
Apulia within Italy, wasting and burning the space of a hundred
miles toward Naples : which if it be certain, it is to be feared, that
the Turk having thus set in his foot, and feeling the sweetness of
Italy, will not so cease before he get in both head and shoulders also,
so far into Italy, that he will display his banners within the walls of
Rome, and do with old Rome the like as Mahomet, his great grand-
father, did with new Rome, the city of Constantinople, and as the
Persians did with Babylon.
The causes why we have so to judge, be divers : first, that the see Conjec-
of Rome hath been defended hitherto and maintained, with much why'it is
blood ; and therefore it may seem not incredible, but that it will not f°a^d
long continue, but be lost with blood again, according to the verdict that the
of the gospel : " He that striketh with the sword, shall perish with ^tnome!
the sword," &c. Another cause is, the fulfilling of Apocalypse xviii.,
where it is written, " That great Babylon shall fall, and be made an
habitation of devils, and a den of unclean spirits, and a cage of filthy
and unclean birds :" the fall whereof shall be like a mill-stone in the
sea, that is, which shall not rise again. And that this is to come
before the day of judgment, the text of the said chapter doth apertly
declare ; where the words do follow, showing, That the kings of the
earth, and the merchants, which had to do with the whorish city,
standing afar off for fear of the heat, and beholding the smoke of the
said city flaming and burning with fire, shall bewail and rue her
destruction and desolation, &c. What city this is, called Great
Babylon, which, like a mill-stone, shall fall and burn, and be made
a habitation of unclean spirits and beasts, let the reader construe.
This is certain and plain, by these her kings and merchants standing The pro-
afar off for fear, and beholding her burning, that the destruction of APoca-of
this city (what city soever it be) shall be seen here on earth before ]JW
the coming of the Lord's judgment, as may easily be gathered by expoimd-
these three circumstances ; that is, by the standing, the beholding, ed'
and the bewailing of her merchants; by which merchants and king?
of the earth, peradventure, may be signified the pope, the rich car-
dinals, the great prelates, and the fat doctors, and other obedientiaries
of the Romish see, who, at the coming of the Turks, will not adven-
ture their lives for their church, but will flee the city, no doubt, and
stand afar off from danger. And when they shall see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, the city of Rome to be set on fire and
consumed by the cruel Turks, the sight thereof shall seem to them
piteous and lamentable, to behold the great and fair city of Rome,
the tall castle of St. Angelo, the pope's mighty see (where they were
wont to fish out such riches, dignities, treasures, and pleasure), so to
burn before their eyes, and to come to such utter desolation, which
shall never be re-edified again, but shall be made a habitation of
devils and unclean spirits ; that is, of Turks and heathen sultans, and
barbarous Saracens, &c. This, I say, peradventure, may be the
78 THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
soiymnn. meaning of that prophetical place of the Apocalpse ; not that I have
here any thing to pronounce, but only give my guess, what may pro-
bably be conjectured. But the end at length will make this, and all
other things, more plain and manifest ; for mystical prophecies lightly
arc never so well understood, as when the event of them is past and
accomplished.
TWru Another cause, concurring with the causes aforesaid, may be col-
cause. Jected out of Paulus Jovius, who, writing of the subversion of Rhodes,
which was, as ye heard a. u. 1522, upon Christmas day, saith, that
it chanced suddenly, the same day, in Rome, that as pope Adrian VI.
was entering into the church to' his service, suddenly over his head
the upper frontier or top of the chapel door, which was of marble,
immediately as the pope was entering, fell down, and slew certain
of his guard waiting upon him. Whereby peradventure may be
meant, that the ruin of Rome was not long after to follow the loss
of Rhodes.
Fourth The fourth cause I borrow out of Johannes Aventinus, who, in
cau"e- his third book, alleging the names, but not the words of Hildegard,
a pro- Briget, and other prophetical persons, hath these words ; " Si vera
phec>' sint carmina et vaticinia, D. Hildegardse, et Brigittse, Sybillarum
Germanise, et Bardorum fatidicorum, qui ea quae nostro sevo com-
pleta vidimus longo ante, tempore nobis cecinerunt ; Agrippinensis
Colonia, nolimus, velimus, Turcarum capui erit," &c. ; that is, " If
the sayings and prophecies of Hildegard, of Briget, and other pro-
phetical persons, be true, which, being foretold long before, we have
seen now in these our days accomplished ; the town of Cologne, will
wc, nill we, must needs be the head city of the Turks.""1
And this I write, not as one pronouncing against the city of Rome
what will happen, but as one fearing what may fall : which if it
come to pass (as I pray God it may not), then shall the pope well
understand, whither his wrong understanding of the Scriptures, and
his false flattering glossers upon the same, have brought him.
a caveat Wherefore my counsel to the pope, and all his popish maintainers
bishop of aml upholders is, to humble themselves, and to agree with their
h.""!T 'f brethren betimes, letting all contention fall : lest that while the
wise. bishop of Rome shall strive to be the highest of all other bishops, it
so fall out shortly, that the bishop of Rome shall be found the lowest
of all other bishops, or, peradventure, no bishop at all.
Whereupon also another cause may be added, taken out of
Hieronymus Savanarola, who prophcsieth, that one like unto
Cyrus shall come over the Alps, and destroy Italy : whereof see
more before.
This Solyman, if he be yet alive, hath now reigned forty-six years,
who began the same year in which the emperor Charles V. was
crowned, which was a. D. 1520, and so hath continued, by God's per-
mission, for a scourge to the Christians, unto this year now present,
I •">»>(>. This Solyman, by one of his concubines, had his eldest son,
called Mustapha. By another concubine called Rosa, he had four
sons, Mahomet, Bajazet, Selim, and Gianger: of wrhich sons, Mus-
tapha and Gianger were slain (as ye heard before) by means of their
(1) Anna), lib. .1, fol. 30.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 79
own father. And thus much concerning the wretched tyranny of the fofcmaa.
Turks, out of the authors hereunder written.1
A NOTICE TOUCHING THE MISERABLE PERSECUTION, SLAUGH-
TER, AND CAPTIVITY, OK THE CHRISTIANS
UNDER THE TURKS.
Hitherto thou hast heard, christian reader ! the lamentable perse- rerseeu-
cutions of these latter days, wrought by'the Turks against the people ^the"
and servants of Christ. In the reading whereof, such as sit quietly Tuit
at home, and be far from jeopardy, may see what misery there is
abroad ; the knowledge and reading whereof shall not be unprofitable
for all Christians earnestly to weigh and consider, for that many there
be, who, falsely deceiving themselves, imagine that Christianity is a
quiet and restful state of life, full of pleasure and solace in this pre-
sent world ; when indeed it is nothing less, as testified by the mouth
of our Saviour himself, who, rightly defining his kingdom, teacheth
us, that his kingdom is not of this world ; premonishing us also
before, that in this world we must look for affliction, but in him we
shall have peace. Examples hereof in all parts of this history, through compa-
all ages, are plenteous and evident to be seen, whether we turn our tweentile
eyes to the first ten persecutions in the primitive church, during the £"nSg „f"
first three hundred years after Christ; or whether we consider the the p"-
latter three hundred years in this last age of the church, wherein the and the
poor flock of Christ hath been so afflicted, oppressed, and devoured, church,
that it is hard to say, whether have been more cruel against the
Christians, the infidel emperors of Rome, in the primitive age of the
church, or else these barbarous Turks, in these our later times of
the church now present.
Thus, from time to time, the church of Christ hath had little or
no rest in this earth : what for the heathen emperors on the one side ;
what for the proud pope on the other side ; on the third side, what
for the barbarous Turk : for these are, and have been from the be- Three
ginning, the three principal and capital enemies of the church of^mles
Christ, signified in the Apocalypse by " the beast, the false lamb, and "''Christ's
the false prophet, from whom went out three foul spirits, like frogs,
to gather together all the kings of the earth to the battle of the day
of the Lord God Almighty.'1'' [Apoc. xvi.] The cruelty and malice The cru-
of these three enemies against Christ's people hath been such, that to Ldous 'e
judge which of them did most exceed in cruelty of persecution, it is ^"[j^"
hard to say ; but, that it may be thought that the bloody and beastly
tyranny of the Turks especially, above the rest, incomparably sur-
mounteth all the afflictions and cruel slaughters that ever were seen
in any age, or read of in any story : insomuch tliat there is neither
history so perfect, nor writer so diligent, who, writing of the miserable
(1) The Authors of the Turks' Stories.
Leonicus Chalcondyla. Ludovicus Vives. Paulus Jovius.
Nicolaus Eboicus Episc. Sagun- Bernard as de Breydenbach. Jolian. Martinus Stella.
tinus. Sabellicus. Caspar Peucerus, ,vr.
Johannes Ramus. Mityleneus Archiepisc. N'itolaus a Motlen Burgundus.
Andrajas a Lueana. Isiodorus Ruthtrus. Sebast. Munsterus.
Wolfgangus Drechslerus. Marimia Barletus. Baptists Egnatius.
Johannes Crispus. Henricus lVnia.de hello Rhodio. Uarthol. Peregrinus.,
Johannes Faber, Melchior Soiterus.
SO THE HISTORT OF THE TURKS.
soiymnn. tyranny of the Turks, is able to express or comprehend the horrible
^l examples of their unspeakable cruelty and slaughter, exercised by these
!,!li"o' d twt'lve Turkish tyrants upon poor christian men's bodies, within the
in the compass of these latter three hundred years. Whereof although no
1 "rk" sufficient relation can be made, nor number expressed ; yet, to give
to the reader some general guess or view thereof, let us first perpend
and consider what dominions and empires, how many countries, king-
doms, provinces, cities, towns, strongholds, and forts, these Turks
have surprised and won from the Christians; in all which victories,
being s0 many, this is secondly to be noted, that there is almost no
place which the Turks ever came to and subdued, where they did not
cither slay all the inhabitants thereof, or led away the most part
thereof into such captivity and slavery, that they continued not long
after alive, or else so lived, that death, almost, had been to them
more tolerable.
Like as in the time of the first persecutions of the Roman empe-
rors, the saying was, that no man could step with his feet in all
Rome, but should tread upon a martyr ; so here may be said, that
almost there is not a town, city, or village, in all Asia and Greece,
also in a great part of Europe and Africa, whose streets have not
flowed with the blood of the Christians, whom the cruel Turks have
murdered : of whom are to be seen in histories, heaps of soldiers
slain, of men and women cut in pieces, of children sticked upon poles
and stakes, whom these detestable Turks most spitefully, and that in
the sight of their parents, use to gore to death. Some they drag at
their horse's tails, and famish to death ; some they tear in pieces,
tying their arms and legs to four horses ; others they make marks to
shoot at r upon some they try their swords, how deep they can cut
and slash, as before ye have read. The aged and feeble they tread
under their horses ; women with child they spare not, but mangle their
bodies, and cast the infants into the fire, or otherwise destroy
them. Whether the Christians yield to them, or yield not, all is a
matter. As in their promises there is no truth, so in their victories
there is no sense of manhood or mercy in them, but they make
havoc of all.1
So the citizens of Croia, after they had yielded and were all pro-
mised their lives, were all destroyed, and that horribly. In Mysia,
after the king had given himself to the Turk's hand, having promise
of life, Mahomet the Turk slew him with his own hands. The
princes of Rasia had both their eyes put out, with basons red hot set
before them. Theodosia, otherwise called Capha, was also surren-
dered to the Turk, having the like assurance of life and safety ; and
yet, contrary to the league, the citizens were put to the sword and
slain. At the winning and yielding of Lesbos, what a number of
youn<j men and children were put upon sharp stakes and poles, and
so thrust through ! At the winning of the city of Buda, what tyranny
was showed and exercised against the poor Christians who had yielded
themselves, and against the two dukes, Christopher Bisserer, and
Johnn Tranbinger, contrary to the promise and hand-writing of
the Turk, is to be seen in the story of Mclchior Soiterus, ' De bello
Pannonico/2 The like also is to be read in the story of Bcrnardus de
(I) Ex Marino Barlctio de Scod. cxpugnat. lib. ii. (2) Lib. i. M. 515.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 81
Breydenbacli,1 who, writing of the taking of Hydruntum, a city In socman.
Apulia, testifieth of the miserable slaughter of the young men there T|1(, 6U_
slain, of old men trodden under the horses' feet, of matrons and pe»a-
virgins abused, of women with child cut and rent in pieces, of the otto*"
priests in the churches slain, and of the archbishop of that city, who, ^^tM
being- an aged man, and holding the cross in his hands, Mas cut
asunder with a wooden saw, &c. The same Bernard, also, writing of
the overthrow of Nigropont, otherwise called Chalcides, a. n. 1471,
describeth the like terrible slaughter which there was exercjsed, where
the Turk, after his promise given before to the contrary, most cruelly
caused all the youth of Italy to be pricked upon sharp stakes ; some
to be dashed against the hard stones, some to be cut in sunder in the
midst, and others with other kinds of torments to be put to death :
insomuch, that all the streets and ways of Chalcides did flow with the
blood of those who were there slain. In that history the aforesaid
writer recordeth one memorable example of maidenly chastity, worthy
of all Christians to be noted and commended. The story is told of a not*-
the praetor's daughter of that city, who, being the only daughter of ^y*,:
her father, and noted to be of an exceeding singular beauty, was maidenly
saved out of the slaughter, and brought to Mahomet the Turk, to be
his concubine. But she, denying to consent to his Turkish appetite
and filthiness, was commanded therewith to be slain and murdered,
and so died she a martyr, keeping both her faith and her body nude-
filed unto Christ Jesus her spouse.
The like cruelty also was showed upon those who kept the castle, Miserable
and afterwards, yielding themselves upon hope of the Turk's promise, chrisui*'
were slain every one. What should I speak of the miserable slaughter ™^ds
of Modon, and the citizens thereof, dwelling in Peloponnesus ?
who, seeing no other remedy but needs to come into the Turk's
hands, set the barn on fire where they were gathered together, men,
women, and children ; some women also with child, voluntarily cast
themselves into the sea, rather than they would sustain the Turk's
captivity.
Miserable it is to behold, long to recite, incredible to believe, all
•the cruel parts, and horrible slaughters, wrought by these miscreants
against the Christians through all places almost of the world, both in
Asia, in Africa, but especially in Europe. Who is able to recite
the innumerable societies and companies of the Greeks martyred by
the Turk's sword in Achaia, Attica, Thessalia, Macedonia, Epvrus,
and all Peloponnesus ? besides the island of Rhodes, and other
islands and cyclades adjacent in the sea about, numbered to two and
fifty; of which, also, Patmos was one, where St. John, being banished,
wrote his Revelations. Where did ever the Turks set any foot, but
the blood of Christians there, without pity or measure, went to wrack ?
and what place or province is there almost throughout the world,
where the Turks either have not pierced, or are not likely shortly to Brierre.
enter ? In Thrace, and through all the coasts of the Danube, in <*ai tf
Bulgaria, Dalmatia, in Scrvia, Transylvania, Bosnia, in Hungary, also towns
in Austria, what havoc hath been made by them of christian mcifs ™m%T
bodies, it will rue any christian heart tq remember. At the siege of jj|c1,1u"rlt
Moldavia, at the winning of Buda, of Pest, of Alba, of Walpo, rope.
(1) Ex Bernardo de Breydenbach. Dccan. Eccl. Magnus.
VOE. IV. G
go THE HISTOEY OF THE TL'RKS.
m. Strieg.ui, Soclosia, Tata, Vissegrade, Novum Castellum in Dal-
matia, Belgrade, Waradein, Quinquc Ecclesise : also at tlie battle
of Vama, where Ladislaus, king of Poland, with almost all his army,
through the rashness of the pope's cardinal, were slain. At the
winning, moreover, of Xabiacchus, Lyssus, Dynastrum : at the siege
of Guns, and of the faithful town Scorad, where the number of the
shot against their walls, at the siege thereof, was reckoned to be
Cruelty of two thousand five hundred and thirty-nine. Likewise at the siege
S«tortk °f Vienna, where all the christian captives were brought before the
thedtt- whole army and slain, and divers drawn in pieces with horses: but
Vienna, especially at the winning of Constantinople, above mentioned. Also
ins cruel- at Croia and Modon, what beastly cruelty was showed, it is un-
^^rl speakable. For as in Constantinople, Mahomet, the drunken Turk,
suncrsof never rose from dinner, but he caused every day, for his dispoit,
three hundred christian captives of the nobles of that city to be slain
before his face : so, in Modon, after that his captain Omar had
sent unto him at Constantinople, five hundred prisoners of the
Christians, the cruel tyrant commanded them all to be cut and
divided asunder by the middle, and so, being slain, to be thrown out
into the fields.1
a Btrange Leonicus Chalcondyla, writing of the same story, addeth, more-
over, a prodigious narration, if it be true, of a brute ox, which, being
,,; in the fields, and seeing the carcases of the dead bodies so cut in two,
to- made there a loud noise after the lowing of his kind and nature : and
dead a afterwards, coming to the quarters of one of the dead bodies lying in
bujy.tian tnc nc^i nrst to°k UP tne one na^> an(i tncn coming again, took up
likewise the other half, and so, as he could, joined them both toge-
ther. Which being espied by those who saw the doing of the brute
ox, and marvelling thereat, and word being brought thereof to Ma-
homet, he commanded the quarters again to be brought where they
were before, to prove whether the beast would come again ; who
failed not (as the author recordeth), but, in like sort as before, taking
the fragments of the dead corpse, laid them again together. It fol-
lowcth more in the author, how that Mahomet, being astonied at the
strange wonder of the ox, commanded the quarters of the christian
man's body to be interred, and the ox to be brought to his house,
and much made of. Some said it was the body of a Venetian ; some
affirmed, that he was an Illyrian ; but, whatsoever he was, certain it
is, that the Turk himself was much more bestial than was the brute
ox ; which, being a beast, showed more sense of humanity to a dead
inan, than one man did to another.2
"»■ «- To this cruelty add, moreover, that besides these five hundred
' Modonkns thus destroyed at Constantinople, in the said city of
Modon, all the townsmen, also, were slain by the aforesaid captain
''■""• < taaar, and, among them, their bishop likewise was put to death.3
John Paber, in his oration made before king Henry VIII., at the
appointment of king Ferdinand, and declaring therein the miserable
cruelty of the Turks toward all Christians, as also toward the bishops
and ministers of the church, testifieth, how that in Mitylene, in
(l) r;* Leonleo Chalcondula de rebus. Tuicicla. lib. x. (2) Kx Leonic Chalcondyla,
(3) ix Amir, do Lacuna, et ex Wolfg. it aliis.
THH HISTORY OF THF TURKS. 83
Constantinople, and in Trapczunda, what bishops and archbishops, Soiyman
or other ecclesiastical and religious persons the Turks could find, —
they brought them out of the cities into the fields, there to be slain
like oxen and calves.1 The same Faber also, writing of the battle
of Soiyman in Hungary, whore Ludovic, the king of Hungary, was
overthrown, declareth, that eight bishops in the same field were
slain. And moreover, when the archbishop of Striegau, and Paul,
the archbishop of Colosse, were found dead, Soiyman caused them to
be taken up, and to be beheaded and chopped in small pieces, a. d.
1526.
What christian heart will not pity the incredible slaughter done Cruelty <,f
by the Turks in Euboea, where the said Faber testified),' that innu- *eE^!rk
merable people were stuck and gored upon stakes, divers were thrust bflea-
through with a hot iron, children and infants not yet weaned from
the mother, were dashed against the stones, and many cut asunder in
the midst ! 2
But never did country taste and feel more the bitter and deadly The
tyranny of the Turks, than did Rascia, called Mysia Inferior, and now ^of
Servia, where (as writeth Wolfgangus Dreschlerus) the prince of the sfain'o "d
same country, being sent for under fair pretence of words and pro- the Turk.
mises to come and speak with the Turk, after he was come of his ^"uT/
own gentleness, thinking no harm, was apprehended, and wretchedly prince
and falsely put to death, and his skin flayed off, his brother and sister Turk. ie
brought to Constantinople for a triumph, and all the nobles of his
country (as Faber addeth) had their eyes put out, &c.
Briefly to conclude : By the vehement and furious rage of these The
cursed caitiffs, it may seem that Satan, the old dragon, for the great birred uP
hatred he beareth to Christ, hath stirred them up to be the butchers °?,thtJ; de~
of all christian people, inflaming their beastly hearts with such malice H^ *■
and cruelty against the name and religion of Christ, that they, de- Christ,
generating from the nature of men to devils, neither by reason will xurksare
be ruled, nor by any blood or slaughter satisfied. Like as in the butchers
primitive age of the church, and in the time of Dioclesian and Maxi- chris-
milian, when the devil saw that he could not prevail against the tians'
person of Christ, who was risen again, he turned all his fury upon his
simple servants, thinking by the Roman emperors utterly to ex-
tinguish the name and profession of Christ out from the earth : So in
this latter age of the world, Satan, being let loose again, ragcth by the
Turks, thinking to make no end of murdering and killing, till he
have brought, as he intendeth, the whole church of Christ, with all
the professors thereof, under foot. But the Lord, I trust, will once
send a Constantine, to vanquish proud Maxentius ; a Moses, to drown
indurate Pharaoh ; a Cyrus, to subdue the stout Babylonian.
And thus much hitherto touching our christian brethren who were Misery of
slain and destroyed by these blasphemous Turks. Now, forasmuch uaVcap"-"
as besides these aforesaid, many others were plucked away violently ^\^'
from their country, from their wives and children, from liberty, and Turk.
from all their possessions, into wretched captivity and extreme The buy-
poverty, it remaineth likewise to treat somewhat, also, concerning the ^tog of
cruel manner of the Turk's handling of the said christian captives. caPtives-
(1) Ex Johan. Fabro, in c-atioue ad rcprm Hen. VIII. (2) Ex Johan. Fabro, et difc.
G 2
S4. THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
soiyman. And first here is to be noted, that the Turk never cometh into
Europe to war against the Christians, but there followeth after his
army a great number of brokers or merchants, such as buy men and
children to sell again,' bringing with them long chains in hope of
great escheats : in which chains they link them by fifty and sixty
together, such as remain undestroyed with the sword, whom they buy
of°the spoils of them that rob and spoil the christian countries;
which is lawful for any of the Turks' army to do, so that the tenth
of their spoil or prey (whatsoever it be) be reserved to the head
Turk ; that is, to the great master thief.
curiatiM Of such as remain for tithe, if they be aged (of whom very few be
SSwdb. reserved alive, because little profit cometh of that age), they be sold
the Turk, to the use of husbandry, or keeping of beasts. If they be young men
or women, they be sent to certain places, there to be instructed in
their language and arts, as shall be most profitable for their advan-
tage ; and such are called in their tongue, Sarai. And the first care
of" the Turks is this : to make them deny the christian religion, and.
to be circumcised ; and, after that, they are appointed, every one as
he seemeth most apt, either to the learning of their laws, or else to
learn the feats of war. Their first rudiment of war is to handle the
bow ; first beginning with a weak bow, and so, as they grow in
strength, coming to a stronger bow ; and if they miss the mark, they
are sharply beaten : and their allowance is two pence or three pence
o wick- a dav, till they come and take wages to serve in war. Some are
pMstng brought up for the purpose to be placed in the number of the wicked
an^mise- Janizarje^ that iSi the order of the Turk's champions, which is the
most abominable condition of all others. Of these Janizaries, see be-
fore. And if any of the aforesaid young men or children shall appear
t to excel in any beauty, he is compelled to serve their abominable
o misery abomination ; and, when age cometh, then they serve instead of
i'n'i'crics ! eunuchs, to wait upon matrons, or to keep horses and mules, or
else to be scullions and drudges in their kitchens.
The *er- Such as be young maidens and beautiful, are deputed for concu-
young ° bines. Those who be of mean beauty, serve for matrons to their
eaptirea drudgery work in their houses and chambers, or else are put to
spinning, and such other labours ; but so, that it is not lawful for
them either to profess their christian religion, or ever to hope for any
liberty. And thus much of those who fall to the Turk by tithe.
The others, who are bought and sold amongst private subjects, first
are allured with fair words and promises to take circumcision ; which
if they will do, they are more favourably treated : but all hope is
taken from them of returning again into their country ; which if they
attempt, the pain thereof is burning. And if such, coming at length
to liberty, will marry, they may; but then their children remain in
bond to the lord, for him to sell at his pleasure ; and, therefore, such
as are wise amongst them will not marry. Those who refuse to be cir-
cumcised, are miserably handled ; for example whereof, the author
(who givetfc testimony hereof) doth infer his own experience. Such
captives as he expert in any manual art or occupation, can better shift
lor themselves; but, contrariwise, they who have no handicraft to live
upon, are in worse, ease. And therefore such as have been brought
up m learning, or be priests or noblemen, and such others whose
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 85
tender education can abide no hardness, are the least reputed, and Soiy,,,,,,,.
most of all others neglected of him that hath the sale or keeping of ~~
them, for that he secth less profit to rise of them, than of the others ;
and, therefore, no cost of raiment is bestowed upon them, but they
are carried about barehead and barefoot, both summer and winter, in
frost and snow. And if any faint and be sick in the way, there is no
resting in any inn, but first he is driven forward with whips, and if
that will not serve, he is set peradventure upon some horse ; or if his
weakness be such that he cannot sit, then is he laid overthwart the
horse upon his belly, like a calf; and if he chance to die, they take
off his garment, such as he hath, and throw him in a ditch.1
In the way moreover, besides the common chain which doth inclose
them all, the hands also of every one are manacled, which is, because
they should not harm their leaders : for many times it happened, that
ten persons had the leading of fifty captives ; and, when night came,
their feet also were fettered, so that they lodged in no house, but lay
upon the ground all night.
The young women had a little more gentleness showed, being car- Miserable
ried in panniers in the daytime. But when night came, pity it was "'chris*
to hear the miserable crying out of such as were inclosed within, by ^,ae" wo"
reason of the injuries which they suffered by their carriers, inso- under the
much that the young tender age of seven or eight years, as well of the
one sex, as of the other, could not save them from the villany of t
the Turks.
When the morning cometh, they are brought forth to the market Christian
for sale, where the buyer, if he be disposed, plucking off their gar- brought
ments, vieweth all the bones and joints of their body ; and if he k°e™aud
like them, he giveth his price, and carrieth them away into miserable sold.
servitude, either to tilling of their ground, or to pasture their cattle, or
to some other strange kind of misery, incredible to speak of: insomuch Put to
that the author reporteth, that he hath seen himself, certain of such (t')™" m
christian captives yoked together like horses and oxen, and to draw the Plougii.
plough. The maid-servants likewise are kept in perpetual toil and
work in close places, where neither they come in sight of any man,
neither be they permitted to have any talk with their fellow-servants,
&c. Such as are committed to keep beasts, lie abroad day and night
in the wild fields, without house and harbour, and so, changing their
pasture, go from mountain to mountain ; of whom also, beside the
office of keeping the beasts, other handy labour is exacted at spare
hours, such as pleaseth their masters to put unto them.
Out of this misery there is no way for them to flee, especially for Danger of
them that arc carried into Asia beyond the seas ; or if any do attempt ^f"Who
so to do, he taketh his time chiefly about harvest, when he may Jj^™1 of
hide himself all the daytime in the corn, or in woods or marshes, and
find food ; and in the night only he fleeth, and had rather be devoured
of wolves and other wild beasts, than to return again to his master.
In their fleeing they use to take with them a hatchet and cords, that
when they come to the sea side, they may cut down trees, and bind
together the ends of them, and so, where the sea of Hellespont is
narrowest, about Sestos and Abydos, they take the sea, sitting upon
(1) Ex Bartholo. Geor-rioniz. Pcrigrena lib de afflictionibua Cbristianorum sub Turco.
gg TIIK HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
soiyman. trees, where, if the wind and tide do serve luckily, they may cut over
D er of in four or five hours. But the most part either perish in the floods,
our men or arc driven back again upon the coasts of Asia, or else be devoured
«a:hL of wild beasts in the woods, or perish with hunger and famine. If any
escape over the sea alive into Europe, by the way they enter into no
town, but wander upon the mountains, following only the north star
for their guide.
As touching such towns and provinces as are won by the Turk,
and wherein the Christians are suffered to live under tribute, first,
all the nobility there they kill and make away; the churchmen and
clergy hardly "they spare. The churches, with the bells and all the
furniture thereof, cither they cast down, or else they convert to the
use of their own blasphemous religion ; leaving to the Christians cer-
tain old and blind chapels, which when they decay, it is permitted to
our men to repair them again for a great sum of money given to the
Turk. Neither be they permitted to use any open preaching or
ministration, but only in silence and by stealth to frequent together;
nor is it lawful for any Christian to bear office within the city or pro-
vince, or to bear weapon; or to wear any garment like to the Turks.1
And if any contumely or blasphemy, be it ever so great, be spoken
against them, or against Christ, yet must thou bear it, and hold thy
peace. Or if thou speak one word against their religion, thou shalt
be compelled (whether thou wilt or no) to be circumcised : and then,
if thou speak one word against Mahomet, thy punishment is fire and
burning. And if it chance a Christian, being on horseback, to meet, or
ass by a Mussulman, that is, a Turkish priest, he must alight from his
lorse, and with a lowly look devoutly reverence and adore the Mussul-
C'hris-
tiana
lllrt'tlllga
Turkish
priest
""'re man ; or if he do not, he is beaten down from his horse with clul
him. and staves.
Furthermore, for their tribute they pay the fourth part of their
substance and gain to the Turk ; besides the ordinary tribute of the
Christians, which is to pay for every poll within his family a ducat
unto the Turk, which if the parents cannot do, they are compelled to
sell their children into bondage. Others being not able to pay, go
chained in fetters from door to door begging, to make up their pay-
ment, or else must lie in perpetual prison.
Misery of And yet notwithstanding, when the Christians have discharged all
away duties, it reiiiaineth free for the Turks, to take up among the Chris-
chHdren t'ans1 children whom they best like, and them to circumcise, and to
frma take them away, being young, from the sight of their parents, to far
parents, places, to be brought up for the Turks'" wars, so that they may not
return to them again ; but first are taught to forget Christ, and then
their parents ; so that if they come again amongst them, yet are they
not able to know their kinsfolks and parents,
omisory! This misery, passing all other miseries, no man is able with tongue
to utter, or with words to express. What Aveeping and tears, with
Borrow and lamentation; what groaning, sighs, and deep dolour, doth
tear ami rend asunder the. wol'ul hearts of the simple parents, at the
plucking away of their babes and children ? to see their sons and their
own children, whom they have born and bred up to the service of
■ 1 1 irChrlstUni may not po like Turks, why should our gospellers ko like papists.' The Tuiba
have tneii lire and hggoti as well u3 our papists.
THE HISTOBY OK THK TU11KS. 87
( hrist Jesus the Son of God, now to be drawn away violently from Spifum.
them to the warfare of Satan, and to fight against Christ ? to see their
babes, born of christian blood, of Christians to be made Turks, and
so to be plucked out of their arms, and out of their sight, without
hope ever to return to them again ? to live perpetually with aliens,
barbarous and blasphemous Turks, and so to become of the number
of those who are called fatherless and motherless P1
Albeit the same children afterwards do greatly degenerate from the privy
faith of Christ, yet very many of them have privily about them the g??S£f™
gospel written by St. John, " In principio erat verbum,'1 £>ce. which, key-
for a token or remembrance of their christian faith, thev carry under
their arm-hole, written in Greek and Arabic : who greatly desire, and
long look for the revenging sword of the Christians, to come and de- An old
liver them out of their dolorous thraldom and captivity, according as fouchfni;
the Turks themselves have a prophecy, and great! v stand in fear of ^j1® Chris-
the same. Whereof more shall be said, Christ willing, in the chap- sword.
ter following.
And thus have ye heard the lamentable afflictions of our christian
brethren under the cruel tyrannv and captivity of the Turks, passing
all other captivities that ever have been to God's people, either under
Pharaoh in Egypt, or under Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, or under
Antiochus in the time of the Maccabees : under which captivity, if
it so please the Lord to have his spouse the church to be nurtured,
his good will be done and obeyed ! But if this misery come by the
negligence and discord of our christian guides and leaders, then have
we to pray and cry to our Lord God, either to give better hearts to
our guiders and rulers, or else better guides and rulers to his flock.
And these troubles and afflictions of our christian brethren suffered
by the Turks, I thought good and profitable for our country people
here of England to know, for as much as by the ignorance cf these,
and such like histories worthy of consideration, I see much incon-
venience doth follow : whereby it cometh to pass, that because we
Englishmen, being far off from these countries, and little knowing ^eces.
what misery is abroad, are the less moved with zeal and compassion tsh'eyt,iat
to tender their grievances, and to pray for them, whose troubles we troubles
know not. Whereupon also it tolloweth, that we, not considering church be
the miserable state of others, are the less grateful to God, when any kno""-
tranquillity by him to us is granted. And if any little cloud of
perturbation arise upon us, be it ever so little, as poverty, loss of
living, or a little banishment out of our country for the Lord's cause,
we make a great matter thereof, and all because wc go no further
than our own country, and, only feeling our own cross, do not com-
pare that which we feel, with the great crosses whercunto the churches
of Christ commonly in other places abroad are subject. Which if we
did rightly understand, and earnestly consider, and ponder in our
minds, neither would wc so excessively forget ourselves in time of
our prosperity given us of God, nor yet so impatiently be troubled,
as we are in time of our adversity ; and all because either wc hear not,
or else we ponder not, the terrible crosses which the Lord layeth
upon our other brethren abroad in other nations, as by this present
story here prefixed may appear.
(J) This is with tears rather than with words to he expressed.
33 THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
siyman. Now consequently remainetli, as I have showed hitherto what
" tyranny hath been used of the Turks against Christ's people, so to
•• declare likewise, how far this tyranny of the Turks hath extended
TuiVs and spread itself; describing, as in a table, to the christian reader,
d?mi' what lands, countries, and kingdoms, the Turks have won and got
from Christendom; to the intent, that when christian princes shall
behold the greatness of the Turk's dominions spread almost through
all the world, and how little a part of Christianity remaineth behind,
they may thereby understand the better, how it is time now for them
to "bestir them, if ever they think to do any good in God's church.
And therefore, to make a compendious draft, as in a brief table,
of such countries, kingdoms, and dominions, got from us by the
Turks, we will first begin with Asia, describing what tracts, countries,
cities, and churches, the Turk hath surprised, and violently plucked
away from the society of christian dominions, taking only such as
be most principal, and chiefly them that be in Scripture contained,
for that it were too long to discourse all and singular such places by
name, as the Turk hath under his subjection.
The world being divided commonly into three parts, Asia, Africa,
and Europe ;x Asia is counted to be the greatest in compass, contain-
ing as much as both the others, and is divided into two portions, the
one called Asia Major ; the other called Asia Minor. And although
the empire of the Turk extendeth unto them both; yet especially his
dominion standeth in the other Asia, which is called Asia Minor,
which reacheth from the coasts of Europe unto Armenia Major,
beyond the river Euphrates, and comprehendeth these regions and
cities following.
THE DIVISION OF ASIA MINOR, CALLED CHERONESUS,
With the particular Countries and Cities belonging to the same.
COUNTRIES.
Pontus2 and Bitliynia.3
CITIES.
Nicea. Heraclea. Nicomedia.
(lialcedon. Prusa or Bursa. Apamea.*
Natolia, or Anatolia, containeth divers countries, with their cities,
as followed) :
COUNTRIES.
Mysia Minor.5
Phrygia Minor.6
Troas.7
Mysia Major.8
Phrygia Major.9
Lydia.10
IE.oY\s.
Ionia.
Caria.11
Doris.
CITIES.
Cizicus.
Parimn.
Lainpaacus.
Dardanum.
Callipolis.
Abydus.
Alexandria or Troas.
Ilium.
Assos.13
(1) On the 4th of August, 1408, the Great Continent of America was discovered by Columbus j
Ibe above observations were made by Foxe, about 15(56.— Ed. (2) Acts ii. (,'i) Ibid. xvi.
1 '' Apami i is a ciiv in P.ithynin, ;i1m> another in Mesopotamia, Apamea Cybotus ; alsoacityin
Great Phr\j;i;», and another also in Parthia. (5) Acts xvi.
(6) \i, ii. Phrygia Minor in Ptolomy is called Troas. (7) Acts xx.
t«x»i. (9)Ibid. ii. (10) Isa. lwi. (11) 1 Mace. xv.
(H) Acts \w. (18) ibid. xx.
THE HISTORY OK THE TURKS.
80
Scepsis
Adramitium.1
Hierapolis.1
Pi tan e
Apolloaia.
Myrina.
CITIES.
Plioccca.
Smyrna.3
Erythrse.
Laodicea.4
CaTura.s
Thvatira.0
Philadelphia.'
Pergamos
(unia.
Ephesus.9
Sardis."
Halicarnassus.
Miletus.12
Thus far reacheth the compass of Natolia ; next follow :
Lycia.13 Paraphilia. 1->
Galatia,velGallogra?cia.14 Pisidia.
Paphlagonia. Cappadocia.1
COUXTil IKS.
ColoSSBB.1
Patara."
Pinara.
Xaiithus.
Andriacae.
Myra,19
Ancyra,
Gordium.
Tharma.
Pessenus.
Amisus.
Sinope.
Corambis.
ocia.IG
CITIES.
Perga."
Attalia-2'
Aspendus.
Phaselis.22
Trapesus.
Themiscyra.
Comana Pontica.
Amasia vcl Eupatoria.s
Masa vel Caesarea.
Naziantium.24
Comana Cappadocia
Miletena.
Nicopolis.
Armenia Minor.
Cilicia.
Laconia.
Leandis.
Claudiopolis.
Juliopolis.
Tharsus.-5
Coricus.'-'6
Solimuntis, vel Trajano-
polis.
Issus, vel Iaiassa.
Augusta.27
Iconhun.28
Lystra.29
Derbe.3°
Antiochia Pisidia3.31
Syria comprehendcth in it divers particular Provinces, with their
Cities, as followeth :
Syria.32
Palestina Judea.
Chanaan.
Samaria.33
Galilsea.34
COUNTRIES.
Phoenicia.35
Damascene.
Ccelosyria.
Cassiotis.
Comagena.
Seleucis.
Laodicene.
Apamene.
Idumaea.36
Hierosolyma.37
Cassarea Stratonis.38
Bethlehem.89
Emmaus.40
Jericho.41
Joppe,42 or Japheth.43
Tvberias.44
CITIES.
Accaron.45
Azotus.40
Ascalon.47
Gaza.48
Bersabee.40
Antipatris-50
Assaron.61
Bethania.52
Lydda.53
Nazareth.54
Capernaum.
Cana.50
Tyrus.57
Sydon, vel Sichem.
(1) Acts xxvii. (2) Col. iv. (3) Apoc. ii. (4) Ibid iii.
(5) At Carina, a certain man with a company of harlots being there lodged, suddenly happened
an earthquake in the city, wherein he, and all they were swallowed up. Pius 2 Papa, lib. de
Descriptione cap. 16. (6) Apoc. ii. (71 Ibid. iii.
(S) Apoc. ii. (9) Ibid. (10) Ibid. iii. (1 1) 1 Mace. xv. (121 Acts xx.
(1,1) Acts xxvii. (H)Ibid.xvi. (1.5) Ibid. ii. (16) Ibid. (17) Col. i.
(18) Acts xxi. (19) Ibid. xiii. (20) Ibid. (21) Ibid. xiv. (22) Mace. xv.
(23) Here Badlina Magnus was bishop. (24) Here Gregorius Nazianzenus was bishop
(25) Acts xxii. The country where St. Paul was born.
(26) Another Coricus is also in the isle of Creta (27) Acts xxvii.
(29) Acta xvi. (SO) Ibid. xiv. (31) Ibid. xi. (324 Ibid. xv.
(34) Matt. iii. (35) Acts xi. (36) Mark iii. (37) Acts i.
(39) Matt. ii. (40) Mark i. (Ill Matt. xx. (12) Josh. xv.
(44) John vi. (45) Josh. xiH (46) Actaviil. (47) Jurlg. ii.
(49) Josh. xix. Bersabee is a city in Jury, also another in [dumea.
(50) Acts xxiii. (51) Ibid. ix. (52) Mark xi. (53) Acts (x.
(55) Matt. iv. (56) John ii. (57) Luke vi. (58) Ibid.
(2S) Ibid xiv.
(33) Ibid.
(?8) Ibid. viii.
i43) Acts ix.
(48) Acts viii.
(54) Matt. iv.
90 THE HISTORY OF THE TLRIiS.
CITIES.
Ptolomais.1 Antiochia, sub Tauro. Paradisu
Cjesarea I'hilippi." Alexandria apud Issum. Jabruda.
Damascus.3 Nicopolis.o Nazamm
Philadelphia.4 Gephyra. Apamia.
Buthis, vel Pella. Gindarus. Besannna, vel Bersabee.
Antiochia apud Orontem, Seleucia.7 Eulc
vel Theophilis.5 Imma. Ma
Samosata. Laodicsea.8
ieusa.
lassa.
CITIES.
vel Hur Cbaldaeorum,
which is now ci
where Abraham was
Sujas.
born.16
Phasis.
Patara.
Lubium.
Azara.
Artanissa.
Gerusa. S. Georgius.
Armachica.
Sinda.
Getara, vel Gangara.
Dioscuria vel Sebastia,
Chabala.
Thus far rcachcth the compass of Syria.
Asia Minor.
COUNTRIES.
Arabia.9 Carra, or Charan, where Sarmatia
Arabia Petaea, or Naba- Abraham dwelt. Colchis,
tjea. Selucia.10 Iberia.
Arabia Felix. Mesopotamia. Albania, and Armenia.13
Arabia Deserta. Babylonia.12
Sahara. vel Hur Cbaldaeorum, which is now called
Edessa,14 which is now
railed Orpha, and in
the story of Tobias,
called Rages.
BybluB.
Babylon, vel Baldach.15
Orchoe, vel Urchoa,
And thus far reaeheth the compass of Asia Minor, with the
countries and provinces to the same pertaining, which being once
brought to the faith of Christ, are now in a manner all subdued to
the Turks.
Islands belonging to Asia Minor.
The islands belonging to the regions of Asia Minor aforesaid, gotten
by the Turk, are these •
Thinias, belonging to Bi- Possidium to iEolis. Carpathus to Doris
tliynia. Samos to Ionia.19 Rhodus to Lycia.23
Tenedoa to Troaa. Trogyllium.20 Cyprus.-4
Chios to Lydia." ("nidus, to Doris.21 Pancluea.
Patmns." Cos.-*
(1) Acts xxi. (2) Matt. xvi. (8) Sal. i. (■!) Apoc. i.
(5) Antiochia, apud Orontem, a chief ci!y in Syria, where the disciples of Christ were first named
Christians, Acts xi.
8) Nicopolis, is a city also in Macedonia, mentioned in the epistle of Saint Paul to Titus,
chap. iii.
(7) Acts xiii. Seleucia, is a city in Syria. Also another in l'amphylia, another in Cilicia Pisidia,
another in Ctt-lo-Syria, and in Mesopotamia another.
II, In this Laodioeawas the council kept, which is called Concilium Laodicense. There
is aimiher l.aodicea in Lydia, near to Colossac in Asia Minor. Colos. iv. 15. Laodicea also is the
ii I'hrvgia 1'acatiana, near to Galatia, Acts xviii. 1 Tim. vi.
Qal 1.4. (10) Acts vii. (1 1) Psalm lix.
ih 'ii, Hi. Babylon in Chaldaea, where Nebuchadnezzar reigned. It was alter destroyed, and
by Seleucua Nicanor. Another is in Egypt called Alcayrus. In the country of Baby-
lonia, is alsu a certain region appointed for philosophers and astronomers, called Chaldea. Jer. 1.
i \ i i l . Armenia Major is divided from Armenia Minor by the river Euphrates. This
Armenia Major and Minor, this day he both under the Turks.
(Ill In Edessa reigned king Ahgatus, mentioned in Eusch. lib. i. cap. 15, to whom Christ wrote,
promising to send onto him alter his death. (15) Acts vii. (lfi) Gen. xi. 15.
(17) Actixx. (lS)Apoc.i. (1!)) Acts xx. (20) Ibid. (21 ) Ibid, xxvii.
cj'Ji ibid nd. (38) ibid.
21) Acts xi. This Cyprus king UK-hard I. did once subdue, limiting against the Saracens.
THE HISTORY OF THE TUBKB. 91
^neas Sylvius, otherwise pope Pius II., in describing Asia Soiynwn.
Minor,1 reciteth a certain fact of a worthy virgin ; who at that A memo-
time the Turks were besieging a certain town in Lesbos, and had ™bale fact
cast down a great part of the walls, so that all the townsmen had virgin, in
given over, putting on man's harness, stepped forth into the breach, 0f her*
where not only she kept the Turks from entering in, but also slew of cuuutry-
them a great sort. The citizens seeing the rare courage, and good
success of the maiden, took to them again their hearts and harness,
and so lustily laid about them, that an incredible number of the Turks
were slain. The rest being repulsed from the land, rcculed into their
ships ; who being then pursued by a navy of Calisa, were worthily
discomfited likewise upon the sea. And thus was the isle of Lesbos
at that time by a poor virgin, that is by the strong hand of the
Lord working in a weak creature, preserved from the Turks.
Beside these regions and countries of Asia Minor above described,
Sebastian Munster, in the fifth book of his Cosmography, declareth
moreover, that the Turks and Sultans have under their subjection
both Arabia, Persia, and also India Exterior, wherein is Calcutta.
The which Persia, although it be under the Sophi, who is an
enemy to the Turk, yet it is to be thought, that he is a Sultan,
one of the Turkish and Mahometan religion. This Persia and India
were once seasoned with Christ's gospel, as may appear by the primi-
tive church. And thus have you the parts of Asia described, which in
times past being almost all christened, do now serve under the Turk.
After the description of Asia, let us next consider the parts and
countries of Africa. Where, although the greatest part either con-
sisteth in deserts desolate, or is possessed by Prester John, who
professeth Christ and his gospel ; yet the Turk hath there also no
little portion under his dominion, as these .
Egypt.2
Regnum Tunece.
Alexandria.
Memphis.
Arsinae.
COUNTRIES.
Africa Minor.
Cyrene.3
CITIES.
Charlago.
Aphordisum.
Mauritania
Hippo. Here Saint Au-
gustine was bishop.
A description of the Countries and Cities in Europe, which were
before christened, and now are subdued and subject to the Turk.
COUNTRIES.
Thracia.
Amphilochia,
Corintbia.
Samothracia.4
Ambracia.
Argia.
Graecia.5
Achaia.7
Laconia.
Macedonia.8
Attica.
Messenia.
Thessalia.
Bceotia.
Elis.
Epyrus.
Chaonia.
Phocis.
Sicyona.
jEtolia.
Arcadia.
Thresprotia.
Peloponnesus.
(1) Ex Mne. Sylv. lib. De Orbis Descrin. rap. 74. El Sob. Munst. lib. 5.
(2) Matt. ii. (3) Acts ii. (1) Ibid. .\vi. | (5) Ibid, xx. (B) Rpin. JV. (7) Ibid.
92
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
Soli/man.
Constantinople, or Bizan- Actum.
Torona.
Azelia.
Acarnanon.
tium.
lYla.
Adrianopolis
Trajanopolis
Caliopis.
Sestos.
Apollonia.
Tliessalonica.1
Philippic
IK nutrias.
Neapolis.'
Ainpliipolis.4
Apollonia Mygdonia?.
Berhsa.*
Ambracia.
Argos.7
Astacus.
Omphaiium.
Athens.
Magaris.
Theba?.
Delphos.
Egris.
Chalydon.
Locris.
Naupactus.
Corinthus.8
Messena.
Tegea.
Argos.
Lacedsemon, or Sparta.9
Epidaurus.
Helice.
Lerna.
Leuctrum.
Methone.
Mycenae.
Megalipolis.
Nemaea.
Nauplia.
Olympia.
Sicyon.
iEgyra.
Islands bordering about Greece,10 won likewise by the Turk from
the Christians.
Eubcea, or Nigropontus. Cyclades.14
Creta.11 Cephalenia.
Salniime.1-'
Clauda.1*
Lemnos.
Ithaca.
Samos.
Zacynthus, or Zanthus. Corcyra,
Corsica 16
Chalcis.
Charistus.
Cerinthus.
Gerestus,
Pulchri Portus."
Lasaea.18
Phoenice.19
Salaniis.
Delos.-0
After the Turk had subdued Thrace and Greece, proceeding
farther into Europe, he invaded other regions and cities, which als<
he added to his dominions : as,
COUNTRIES.
Mysia Superior.21
Mysia Inferior
Dalmatia.22
Corinthia.
Corvatia.
Croatia.
Istria.
Bosnia.
Bulgaria.
Wallachii
Servia.
Rascia.
Moldavia.
Hungaria.
Transylvania, or Septem Austria.
Castra.
lihri'tiaria.
Ncsmis.
Ulpianum.
Scupi
Sigindunum, or Singet.
Triballorum (Escus.
Tirista.
Axiuni, or Chilia.
Labacus, Metropoli
;l) Arts xvii. (2) Tbid. xvi. '3) Ibid. (i) Ibid. xvii. (5) Ibid. (C) Ibid.
(T| Argot, Is a city Id Amphilochis, and another also in Peloponnesus.
ii (il Corinth Strabo writeth, that more than a thousand virgins there in the temple
'< Venui, used yearly to be set out as common; and therefore not without cause Saint Paul
Eratli icortatorei, Idolatne,' &c. l Cor.vL (9) 2 Mace. v.
(10) i be lalanda about Gratia i Bee above.
illj Actl wii. in Creta St Paul ordained Titus to he bishop and overseer.
' «vil. (Hi) Ibid. (14) Fifty three islands. (15)Actsxx.
(Ill) Corsica, is an island beyond Italy, which the Turk's navy joining with the French, did ovcr-
oome, a . n. I8S8.
(17) An (18) Ibid. (19) Ibid. xvii. (20) 1 Mace. xv.
(21) The rip. in of Mysia is divided into two parts; whereof the one is in Asia, and is divided into
or, and Mysia Minor. The other is in Europe, and is divided into Mysia (or Mcesla}
Superior, and Myaia Inferior. (22) 1 Tim. iv.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
Epidaurus,1 or Ragusium. Tergovistus, or Tervifl. Walpe.
Milea, or Meleda. Huniad.3 Novigradum.
Senia, or Segna. flermenstat. Varna.5
Enona, or Hona. Cfonestat Buda, or Ofen
Jadra, or Zara. Saltzburg. Alba regalia.
Sebenica. Alba Julia, or Wessen- Belgradum, or Taurinum.
Stridon, where St. Jerome burge. Strigonium.
was born. Cyula. Varadinum.
Quinque Ecclesiae. Samandria. Neopolis, Major, et Minor
Jaitza, Metropolis of Columbetz.* Pestum.
Bulgaria. -
As I was writing hereof, a certain sound of lamentable news was
brought unto us, how the Turk, whom we had hoped before to have
been repulsed by the emperor Maximilian out of Christendom, hath
now of late, this present year 1566, got the town of Gyula about
Transylvania, after they had sustained sixteen of his most forcible
assaults, destroying in the same most cruelly many thousands of our
Christian brethren, men, women, and children ; but because we have
no full certainty, we will refer the story thereof to further in-
formation.
THE PROPHECIES OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES CONSIDERED,
aToucfjinn, tfje comma up, anb final ftuin and destruction, of tljr?
toiefceo fiintjDom of tlje Cutrtf,
WITH THE REVELATIONS AND FORESHOWINGS ALSO OF OTHER
AUTHORS CONCERNING THE SAME.
Forasmuch as you have hitherto sufficiently heard, to what
quantity and largeness the dominion of the Turks hath increased,
and do understand what cruel tyranny these wretched miscreants
have and do daily practise most heinously wheresoever they come,
against the servants and professors of Christ; it shall not be unprofit-
able, but rather necessary, and to our great comfort, to consider and
examine in the Scriptures, with what prophecies the Holy Spirit of the
Lord hath premonished and forewarned us before, of these heavy per-
secutions to come upon his people by this horrible Antichrist. For
as the government and constitution of times, and states of monarchies
and policies, fall not to us by blind chance, but be administered and
allotted unto us from above; so it is not to be supposed, that such
a great alteration and mutation of kingdoms, such a terrible and
general persecution of God's people almost through all Christendom,
and such a terror of the whole earth as is now moved and engendered
by these Turks, cometh without the knowledge, sufferance, and
(1) Epidaurus, is a city in Illyria, and also another in Peloponnesus. These regions were in
former times called by the name of Illyria or Illyricum, and afterward, by reason of certain Scy-
thians coming thither, they were also called Sclavonia. Stephanus, king of Bosnia, and afterward
of Rascia and Mysia, was by subtle train allured to come and speak with Mahomet the Turk,
■who, being come, was taken and his skin flayed off.
(2) All this tract of Bulgaria, Wallachia, Transylvania, Servia, Rascia, and Moldavia, was wont
to be called Dacia, but afterward was severed into divers lands and dominions. Bulgaria was won
of Bajazet the Turk from the crown of Hungary, through the unprospiTous war of Sigfamund,
at the field of Nicopolis, a.d. 1395. This Sigismund was the burner of John Huss, and the
persecutor of his doctrine.
(3) Where Johannes Huniades was horn.
(4) At Columbetz, Sigismund lost the field, fighting against the Turks.
(5) in Varna, a city in Rascia, .Ladislaus, king of Hungary, fought with the Turk, and was
overcome, a.d. 1444. Vide supra.
Prophecy.
9 J, THE HISTOID OF THE TURKS.
proPhco determination of the Lord before, for such ends and purposes as his
divine wisdom dotli best know. For the better evidence and testi-
mony whereof, he hath left in his Scriptures sufficient instruction
and declaration, whereby we may plainly see, to our great comfort,
how these grievous afflictions and troubles of the church, though
thev be sharp and heavy unto us, yet they come not by chance or
by man's working only, but even as the Lord himself hath appointed
it, and doth permit the same.
Two And first to begin with the time of the Old Testament, let us
,M"um t0 seriously advise and ponder, not only the scriptures and prophecies
■idered therein contained, but also let us consider the whole state, order, and
!",,!!• and regiment of that people; the church, I mean, of the Israelites. For
ttoow although the scriptures and prophets of the Old Testament were
Testa, properly sent to that people, and have their relation properly to
things done, or that should be clone in that commonwealth, of which
prophets John Baptist was the last and made an end, as our Saviour
himself witncsseth, saying, the law and prophets be unto the time of
John, &c. ; yet, notwithstanding, the said people of that Old Testa-
ment bear a lively image and resemblance of the universal church
which should follow, planted by the Son of God through the whole
earth. So that as the prophets of God, speaking to them from the
mouth and word of God, prophesied what should come to pass in
that people ; so, likewise, the whole course and history of those
Israelites exemplified and beareth a prophetical image to us, declaring
what is to be looked for in the universal church of God dispersed
through the world, planted in Christ Jesus his Son, according as
Philip Melancthon, gravely gathering upon the same, testifieth in
divers places in his commentary upon the prophet Daniel.
As first the history of godly Abel, slain by wicked Cain, what
doth it import or prophesy, but the condition of the people and
servants of God, who commonly go to wrack in this world, and are
oppressed by the contrary part, which belongeth not to God ?
The like may be said also of Isaac and Ishmael ; of Jacob and
Esau : of whom those two who were the children of promise, and
belonged to the election of God, were persecuted in this world by
The the others who were rejected. Where, moreover, is to be noted con-
Mna'of cerning Ishmael, that of his stock, after the flesh, came the Saracens,
iabmaei, whose sect the Turks do now profess and maintain. And as Ishmael
through had but twelve sons ; so it were to be wished of God, that this Soly-
oTtoman nian who is the twelfth of the Turkish generation, may be the last.
uuikb. I3nt of this, better occasion shall follow (the Lord willing) hereafter.
Furthermore, of the twelve tribes of Israel, the sacred history so
reporteth,1 that after they had a long season continued together by
the space of eight or nine hundred years, at length, for their idolatry
and transgression of their forefathers, ten tribes of them were cut off,
and dispersed among the Gentiles a hundred and thirty years before
The old the captivity of Babylon ; so that but two tribes only remained free,
the ' ° an<I they also at last, after a hundred and thirty years, were captived
imeHtoj under the Babylonians for a certain time. No otherwise hath it
public happened with the church of Christ almost in the universal world, of
ChrtK. which church the greatest part, both in Asia, in Africa, and almost in
(1) 5 Kings xvii.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 95
Europe (where the holy apostles so laboured and travailed), wc ?ee Prophecy.
now to be disparkled among the Turks, and their candlesticks re- —
moved : the Lord of his great grace reduce them again, Amen ! So
that of twelve parts of Christendom, which were once planted in
Christ, scarce two parts remain clear, and they, how long they shall
so continue, the Lord knoweth. And, albeit through the mercy of
the Lord they escape the danger of the Turks, yet have they been
so beaten by the pope, that they had been" better almost to have been
in the Turks1 hands.
Again, after the said Israelites returned, being restored by Cyrus,
let us consider well their story, the continuance of time, the manner
of their regiments, and what afflictions they sustained in the time of
the Maccabees ; and we shall see a lively representation of these our
days expressed in that prophetical people, according as St. Paul,
writing of them, showeth how all things happened to them in figures,1
that is, the actions and doings of that one nation, be as figures and
types of greater matters, what shall happen in the latter times of the
whole church universally in Christ collected.
So the transmigration and deliverance again of those two tribes, The
declareth to us the affliction of Christ's church for sin ; and yet that ae Jew.
God will not utterly reject his people for his Sons sake : as by mani- cUSS.0'
fold examples of the church hitherto may well appear.
Again, the continuance of the law first given by Moses, unto the
destruction of the said people by Titus, amounteth to one thousand
five hundred and sixty-four years ; so we, counting the age of the
New Testament, and reckoning from the day of our redemption
unto this present, be come now to the year 1534, lacking but only
three and thirty years of the full number.2
Likewise, in counting the years from their deliverance out of cap- Times or
tivity to the end of their dissolution, we find five hundred and sixty- ehur°ch,
four years, during which years, as the church of the Jews was not ^^
governed under the authority of kings, but the high priests took all new.
the power and authority to themselves ; so we Christians, for the priestfin
space especially of these latter five hundred and sixty-four 'years, *J*J2J[
what have we seen and felt, but only the jurisdiction and domination wealth,
of the pope and high priests playing the ' Rex1 in all countries, and prelates
ruling the whole ? whereby, by the count of these years, it is to be compared,
thought the day of the Lord's coming not to be far off.
Furthermore, in those latter years of the Jews1 kingdom, what
troubles and afflictions that people sustained three hundred years
together, but chiefly the last hundred and sixty-six years before the
coming of Christ, by Antiochus and his fellows, the history of the ^
Maccabees can report; wherein we have also notoriously to odulSi ;,
understand the miserable vexations and persecutions of christian *&£ ot
churches, in these latter ends of the world, by Antichrist ; for, by chrf*
Antiochus, Antichrist no doubt is figured and represented. This m!iv.'
Antiochus surnamed Magnus, and Antiochus Epiphancs, his son, *™Uyot
came of the stock of Scleuchus Nicanor ; much like as Mahomet Tm*«.
the Turk, and Solyman, came of the stock of Ottoman.
Wherein this is to be noted and pondered, that, like as of the said
Seleucus issued twelve Syrian kings one after another, of that gene-
(1) 1 Cor. x. (2) Ex Phi. Melanct. in Dan cap. 9.
(JC) THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
rmphtcy. ration, wild reigned over the Israelites with much severity and
— tvmnnv; so, of this devilish generation of Ottoman, have come
twelve Turkish tyrants, whereof this Solyman is now the twelfth ;
God o-rant he may be the last ! And as the two last Antiochi, being
sons of the two brethren, did fight together for the kingdom, and in
fighting were both slain, and shortly after the kingdom fell to the
[tomans ; bo the Lord grant, for Christ's sake, that the bloody brood
of this old Solyman (who hath reigned now six and forty years) may
BO fight together, and perish in their own blood, that this bloody
tyranny of theirs may come to a final end for ever. Amen.
And that the truth hereof may the better appear to such as be
disposed to meditate more upon the matter, I thought good and
profitable for the reader, to set before his eyes, in table-wise, the
catalogue of both these Antichristian families, with the names and
succession of the persons, first of the twelve Syrian kings, then of
the twelve Ottomans, in like number and order.
A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE SYRIANS AND THE TURKS.
The Syrians.
YEARS.
1. Seleucus reigned . 33
2. Antiochus Soter 19
3. Antiochus Theos, who killed Bernice hv: mother-in-law, and his young
brother 15
4. Seleucus Callinicus, with Antiochus Hierax his brother ; which two
brethren warred one against the other 20
5. Antiochus Magnus 3G
(i. Seleucus I'hilopater 12
7. Antiochus Epiphanes, or rather Epimanes
8. Antiochus Eupater
9. Demetrius, brother of Epiphanes, who killed Eupater his cousin .
10. Demetrius Nicanor, whom Antiochus Sedetes, his brother, expulsed
from his kingdom
1 1. Antiochus Sedetes. These two last being brethren had two sons . .
•12. Antiochus Gripus, and Antiochus Ciricenus. These two, striving
together for the kingdom, were both slain, and so, not long after,
the kingdom of Syria came to the hands of Tygranes king of Arme-
nia, and so being taken from him came to the Romans in the time
of Pompey
The Turks.
YEARS.
1. Ottoman reigned . 28
2. Orehan : he slew his two brethren 22
3. Amurath : he put out the eyes of Sauces, his own son 23
4. Bajazet : he slew Solyman, his brother
5. Calepine: the Greek stories make no mention of this Calepine. The
Latin stories say that Calepine and Orehan were both one, and that
he was slain by Mahomet his brother 6
6. Orehan, whom Moses his uncle did slay
7. Mahomet the First : he slew Mustapha, his brother 14
8. Amurath the Second : he slew Mustapha, his brother 34
■9. Mahomet the Second : he slew his two brethren, Turcine, an infant,
.Hid Calepine 37
10. Bajazet the Second: he warred against his brother Denies, which
Deme8 was afterwards poisoned by pope Alexander VI 33
1 1. S.lini ; h'e poisoned Bajazet bis father, and his two brethren Acomates
and Corcuthufl, with all their children, his own cousins .... 7
12. Solyman : he slew Mustapha, his own son, and was also the death of
(■ianvrr, his second son 10
of Anti-
hrist ex-
amined.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 97
These two pestilent families and generations, rising out, doubtless, Prophecy.
from the bottomless pit, to plague the people of God, as in Dumber
of succession they do not much differ, so in manner of their doings
and wicked abominations, they be as near agreeing, being both ene-
mies alike to the people and church of Christ, both murderers and
parricides of their own brethren and kindred, both blasphemers of
God, and troublers of the whole world. Wherein we have all to
learn and note, by the way, the terrible anger of Almighty God
against the sin and wickedness of men.
Furthermore, whoso is disposed to consider and cast the course of
times, and to mark how things be disposed by the marvellous opera- "
tion of God's providence, shall find the times also of these two adver-
saries in much like sort to concur and agree. For, in considering
with ourselves both the testaments and churches of God, the first
of the Jews, the second of the Christians, look what time the Syrian
kings had to rage then in Jerusalem, the same proportion of time
hath now the tyranny of the Turks to murder the Christians ; so that oneAnti-
the one Antichrist may well represent and prefigure the other. For, prenWes
as by the book of Maccabees may appear, Antiochus Epiphanes a,,other-
was about the hundred and ninety-first year before the Passion of our
Saviour, and day of our redemption ; so now casting the same number
from this present year backward, we shall find it to be about the
6ame year and time, when Bajazet, the fourth Turk after Ottoman,
began to remove his imperial seat fiom Bursa in Bithynia to Adria-
nople in Europe, which is a city of Thrace ; in which year and time
began all the mischief in Europe, as is to be seen before, and this
was a.d. 1375, unto which year, if we add 191, it maketh 1566',
according to the prophecy of the Apocalypse, chap, xx., where it is
prophesied of Gog and Magog, that they shall compass about the
tents of the saints, and the welb-beloved city, by which well-beloved
city is meant, no doubt, Europe ; and this was in the year abovesaid,
1375. Although touching the precise points of years and times, it
is not for us greatly to be exquisite therein ; but yet where diligence,
and studious meditation may help to knowledge, I would not wish
negligence to be a pretence to ignorance. And thus much for the
times of Antiochus and his fellows.
Now what cruelty this Antiochus exercised against the people of Furious
God, it is manifest in the history of the Maccabees ; ' where we ofAn'uo-
read that this Antiochus, in the eighth year of his reign, in his second Jj™^
coming to Jerusalem, first gave forth in commandment, that all the o«d's
Jews should relinquish the law of Moses, and worship the idol of VC01"'
Jupiter Olympus, which he set up in the temple of Jerusalem. The
books of Moses and of the prophets he burned. He set garrisons of
soldiers to ward the idol. In the city of Jerusalem he caused the
feasts and revels of Bacchus to be kept, full of all filth and wicked-
ness. Old men, women, and virgins, such as would not leave the law
of Moses, with cruel torments he murdered. The mothers that
would not circumcise their children, he slew. The children that were
circumcised, he hanged up by the necks. The temple he spoiled
and wasted. The altar of God, and the candlestick of gold, with the
other ornaments and furniture of the temple, partly he cast out,
(1) Mac. lib. i. cap. 1.
VOL. IV. H
93 THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS,
mm* partly he carried away. Contrary to the law of God, he caused them
to offer and to eat swine's flesh. Great murder and slaughter he
made of the people, causing them cither to leave their law, or to lose
their lives. Among whom," besides many others, with cruel torments,
he put to death a godly mother with her seven sons, sending his
cruel proclamations through all the land, that whosoever kept the
observances of the sabbath, and other rites of the law, and refused to
condescend to his abominations, should be executed : by reason
whereof the city of Jerusalem was left void and desolate of all good
men, hut there were a great number who were contented to follow
and obey his idolatrous proceedings, and to flatter with the king, and
became enemies unto their brethren. Briefly, no kind of calamity,
nor face of misery could be showed in any place, which was not there
seen. Of the tyranny of this Antiochus it is historied at large in the
book of Maccahees ;' and Daniel, prophesying2 before of the same,
dcclareth that the people of the Jews deserved no less for their sins
and transgressions.
Antio- By consent of all writers, this Antiochus beareth a figure of the
^ur'eof great Antichrist, who was to follow in the latter end of the world,
the Turk. anci jg aire;uiy come, and worketh what he can against us. Although,
as St. John saith, there have been, and be many Antichrists, as parts
and members of the body of Antichrist, who are forerunners, yet, to
speak of the head and principal Antichrist, and great enemy of Christ's
church, he is to come in the latter end of the world, at which time
shall be such tribulation as never was seen before ; whereby is meant,
no doubt, the Turk, prefigured by this Antiochus.3 By this Anti-
christ I do also mean all such as, following the same doctrine of the
Name of Turks, think to be saved by their works and demerits, and not by
duist, their faith only in the Son of God, of what title and profession eke
romain- SOL'vcr they be ; especially if they use the like force and violence for
eti> the same, as he doth, &c.
Of the tyranny of this Antiochus aforesaid, and of the tribulations
of the church in the latter times, both of the Jews' church, and also
* of the christian church to come, let us hear and consider the words of
Daniel in the nineteenth, and also in his seventh chapter, prophesying
of the same as i'olloweth :
' lie shall return, and fret against the holy covenant ; so shall he do : lie shall
even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.
And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength,
and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall set up the abominable
desolation. And such as wickedly break the covenant, shall flatter with him
deceitfully ; but the people that do know their God, shall prevail and prosper.
And they that understand among the people, shall instruct many ; yet they shall
fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil, many days.
4 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help, but many
shall cleave unto them feignedly. And some of them of understanding shall
tall to be tried, and to be purged, and to make them white, till the time be out :
fur there is a time appointed. And the king shall do what him listeth : he shall
exalt himself, and magnify himself against all that is God, and shall speak
marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath be
accomplished ; for the determination is made. Neither shall he regard the God
of his fathers, nor the desires of women, nor care for any God; for he shall
magnify himself above all. But in his place shall he honour the god Mauzziin,
(1)1 Mac. L (2) Dan. ix. (3) Ex Lyra in Gloss. Ordin. c. 1 Mac.
THE HISTORY OP THE TURKS. 99
and the god whom his fathers knew not, dial] he honour with gold, and with Prophecy
silver, and with precious stones and pleasant things*.
' Thus shall he do in the holds of Mauzzim with a strange god, whom he shall
acknowledge; he shall increase his glory, and shall cause them to rule over
many, and shall divide the land for gain. And at the end of time shall the
king of the south push at him, and the king of the north shall come against
him like a whirlwind, with chariots and with horsemen, and with many ships,
and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass through. He
shall enter also into the pleasant land, and many countries shall he overthrown;
hut these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom and Moab, and the chief of
the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hands also upon the coun-
tries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape ; but he shall have power over the
treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt, and of
the Lybians, and of the black Moors where he shall pass. Bui the 'tidings out
of the east and the north shall trouble him ; therefore he shall go forth with
great wrath, to destroy and root out many. And hi! shall plant the tabernacles
of his palace between the seas, in the glorious and holy mountain ; yet he shall
come to his end, and none shall help him.'
To this place of Daniel above prefixed, might also be added the
prophecy of the said Daniel written in the seventh chapter, and much
tending to the like effect ; where he, treating of his vision of four
beasts (which signify the four monarchies), and speaking now of the
fourth monarchy, hath these words :
' After this, I saw in the visions by night, and behold the fourth beast was
grim and horrible, and marvellous strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured
and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue under its feet; and it was unlike
the other beasts that were before it, for it had ten horns. As I considered the
horns, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom
there were three of the first horns plucked away. And behold, in this horn
were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking presumptuous things,
and it seemed more stout than the others. Which horn also, when I looked on,
made battle with the saints, and prevailed against them ; until the Old Aged
came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Highest, and till the appointed
time was come, that the saints should have the kingdom.'
Thus have ye heard the plain words of Daniel ; in which as he doth
manifestly describe the coming of Antiochus, the great adversary,
toward the latter end of the Jews ; so by the same Antiochus is figured
also to us the great adversary of Christ, who is the Turk.
Although some there be, notwithstanding, who, with great learning
and judgment, do apply this place of Daniel above recited, not to the
Turk, but rather to the pope ; and that for six or seven special
causes herein touched and noted.1
The first is this : that the wicked transgressors of the covenant
shall join with him deceitfully and hypocritically, who shall pollute
the tabernacle of strength, and take away the perpetual sacrifice, and
bring in the abomination of desolation. '
The second note is, that the prophet declareth, how the learned
among the people shall teach many, and that they shall fall upon the
sword, into fire and captivity, and shall be ban'ished, whereby they
shall be tried, chosen, and made bright and pure, ccc. ; all which, say
they, is not among the Turks to be seen, but only in the pope's
church ; where the faithful preachers and teachers of the people arc
slain and burned, and go to wrack, &C. : where, likewise, it followeth,
that they shall be holpen against Antichrist, and that many false
()) Vide Rodul. Gunlf. <"x- AntichristO.
H 2
100 THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
prophecy, brethren should join unto them disscmblingly, &c To this they
allege that the Christians have no such help against the Turk, where-
unto Buch false brethren should join themselves, as is and hath been
commonly Been among the Christians against the pope, from time to
„el 10f time, almost in all countries ; as in Germany, by the Protestants and
"••auto- frrt. citieg ; in England, in king Henry's time, by the lord Cromwell,
SLi and afterwards by king Edward, and now by queen Elizabeth; in
tiu- pope. St.()t]an([ i,y ti,e godly nobility | in France, by the queen of Navarre
and her son ; and also by the prince of Conde and the worthy admiral,
and his two brethren, and many others ; in Flanders by those whom
the regent called beggars; so as was in the time of the Maccabees,
against Antiochus.
Thirdly, that the king shall exalt himself above all that hath the
name of God, and shall lift up his mouth to speak presumptuously
against God.
" Fourthly, that he careth not for the desires of women ; which may
seem to note how the pope's doctrine shall forbid the honest and
lawful marriage in churchmen.
The fifth specialty which they apply to the pope, is that which
followeth in the prophet, saying, " Neither shall he regard the God
of his fathers, nor any god ; but, instead of him, shall set up his god
Mansim Mauzzim, and shall worship him with silver and gold, and precious
»wpope'a stone5" &c-i -which they do apply to the pope, setting up his god of
bread, and worshipping him with glistering golden ornaments, and
most solemn service.
Sixthly, it followeth, " and he shall increase them with much glory
and riches, and shall divide unto them lands and possessions,"" &e. ;
meaning that the pope, having dominion over treasures of gold and
silver, and all precious things of the land, shall endue his cardinals,
prelates, his flattering doctors, with friars, monks, and priests, and all
such as shall take his part, with great privileges, liberties, revenues, and
possessions. And thus, I say, some there be who apply this prophecy
The of the seventh and eleventh chapters of Daniel, unto the bishop of
and Rome ; whom, although I take to be an extreme persecutor of Christ's
chnptew church, yet I judge rather those two chapters of Daniel concerning
"' Daniel, tin- little horn in the middle of the ten horns, and the great destroyer
mean the . ' . o j ,
great An- of the pleasant land and glorious holy mountain, to mean first Anti-
theTurk. ochus, and by him, secondly, to mean the great Antichrist, the Turk ;
who hath now set already the tabernacles of his palace between the
seas, according to the prophecies of Daniel, as is above said.
Over and besides these prophecies above alleged, may be added
also the prophecy of Ezekiel [chap, xxxix.], speaking of Gog and Ma-
gog, which, as it maybe applied to the oppression of the Jews under
the heathen multitude which stopped the building of the city, and
mulct- the Syrian kings, &c. ; yet in the same also arc expressed the
calamities and afflictions of Christ's church in these latter times, under
the Saracens and the Turks, &c.
Proceeding further in this matter, let us come now to the prophecies
"I Iji' Nt -w Testament, and mark the words of St. Paul, writing to
the Thessalonians,1 who then were christened, and now arc cither
Turkish, or under the Turk, which words be these: "Be ye not
(1) 2 Tltess. ii.
THE HISTOEY OK THE TUKKS 101
suddenly moved in your mind, nor troubled, neither by spirit, nor Prophecy.
by word, nor by letter as sent from us, as though the day of Christ
■were at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for the Lord
will not come before there come a detection, or a departing first, and
that wicked man be revealed, the son of perdition, which is an adver-
sary, and is extolled above all power, and that which is called God;
so that he shall sit in the temple of God, boasting himself to be
God,1*' &c. Although this defection and departing may have a double Defection
understanding, as well of the pope's sect (which is gone and departed A,ui"eof
from the free justification by faith only in Christ, through the pro- jc'^ed
mise of grace) as of the Turks ; yet, leaving a while to speak of the
pope, because it appeareth more notoriously in the Turk, we will
chiefly apply it to him, in whom so aptly it doth agree, that unless
this great defection from faith in so many churches had happened by
the Turk, it had been hard to understand the apostle's mind, which
now, by the history of these Turks, is easy and evident to be known,
considering what a ruin hath happened to the church of Christ by
these miserable Turks ; what empires, nations, kingdoms, countries,
towns, and cities, be removed from the name and profession of
Christ ; how many thousands and infinite multitudes of christian
men and children, in Asia, in Africa, and in Europe, are carried
away from Christ's church to Mahomet's religion, some to serve
for the Turk's guard among the Janizaries, some for soldiers,
some for miners, some for gunners, to fight and war against the
Christians ; so that the most part of all the churches, planted once
by the apostles, are now degenerated into Turks, only a small hand-
ful of Christians reserved yet in these west parts of Europe, of
which small residue what shall also become shortly, except Christ
himself do help, Christ only himself doth know. How great this
defection spoken of by St. Paul hath been, thou mayest sec, gentle
reader, in the table above described.
Notwithstanding this text of the holy apostle, as I said before,
may be verified also with no less reason upon the bishop of Rome,
than upon the Turk, both for that he is a man of sin, that is, his seat
and city is a great maintainer of wickedness, and also for that he is an
adversary, that is, contrary, in all his doings and proceedings, to Christ.
Thirdly, For that he sitteth in the temple of God, and so did
not Mahomet.
Fourthly, Because he is an exalter of himself, and sitteth more
like a god than a man in Rome, whereof see more in the book set
forth in English, called, ' The Contestations of the Popes.'
Fifthly, For that he seduccth, and hath seduced, by his apostasy,
the most" part of all Christendom from the doctrine and free promises
of God, into a wrong and strange way of salvation, which is, not to
be justified freely before God only by our faith in Christ his well-
beloved Son (unto which faith the' promise of God freely and gra-
ciously hath annexed all our salvation only, and to no other thing),
but hath taught us to work out our salvation by an infinite number
of other things ; insomuch that he bindcth the necessity of our salva-
tion also to this, that we must believe, if we will be saved, and re-
ceive him to be the vicar of Christ on earth, &c.'
',1) Ex Bonifaeis extravag.
The
seventh
Seal ex-
•102 THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
i-r.yhcni. But to return again to the Turks, among all the prophecies botli
" of the Old Testament and of the New, there is none that painteth
out the Antiehristian kingdom of the Turks better than doth the
Revelation of St. John, whose words let us weigh and consider, who,
in Apocalypse ix., where he speaketh of opening the seventh and
last seal (which signifieth the last age of the world), and there, writing
of the seven trumpets of the seven angels, at the sounding of the
sixth angel saith :
' Loose the four angels which are hound in the great river Euphrates. And
the four angels were loosed, which were ready both day, and hour, and month,
and year, to slay the third part of men. And the number of horsemen were
twenty thousand times ten thousand : and I heard the number of them. And
thus I saw in a vision horses, and them that sat on them, having fiery haber-
geons, and of jacinth-stone, and of brimstone, and the heads of the horses were
as the heads of lions, and out of their mouths went forth fire, and smoke, and
brimstone : of these three plagues was the third part of men killed, that is, ot
the fire, smoke, and brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouth,' &c.
By the seventh seal, is meant the seventh and last age of the
world, which last age of the world is from Christ to the judgment
pounded. an(} resurrection of the dead.
By the seven angels with their seven trumpets, is signified the
seven plagues that come in this seventh and last age of the world.
The swth By the sixth trumpet of the sixth angel, is meant the sixth plague
trumpet. commo. ]ast and next before the plague of the great judgment day,
which sixth plague is here described to come by the east kings, that
is, by the Turks, as followeth to be seen.
loosing By loosing the angels who had rule of the great river Euphrates,
angefa is signified the letting out of the east kings, that is, the Turks, out
3ve* iuC- °f Scytbia, Tartary, Persia, and Arabia, by whom the third part of
phiates. Christendom shall be destroyed, as" we see it this day hath come to
pass.
It followeth in the prophecy, " Their power shall be in their
mouths, and in their tails. For their tails be like serpents, having
heads, and with them they hurt,1' &c. ; meaning that these Turks,
with the words of their mouths, shall threaten great destruction of
fire and sword to them that will not yield unto them ; and in the end,
when the Christians shall yield unto them, trusting to their promises,
they, like serpents, shall deceive them in the end, and kill them ; as
appeareth by the story of the Turks above past.
The like prophecy also, after the like words and sense, is to be
seen and read in Apocalypse xvi., where St. John, treating of seven
cups filled with the wrath of the living God, given to the hands of
seven angels by one of the four beasts (that is, in the time of one of
The tarn the four monarchies, which was the monarchy of Rome), speaketh
mean likewise of the sixth angel, who poured his vial of God's wrath upon
roonar- ^1C grcat river Euphrates, and the waters thereof dried up, that the
chics. Way of the kings of the cast should be prepared, &c.
By the sixth angel with the sixth vial, is meant, as before, the last
plague save one, that shall come upon the Christians. By the kings
of the east are meant the Saracens, and twelve Ottoman Turks. By
drying up the river Euphrates, is signified the way of these Turks to be
prepared by the Lord's appointment, to come out of the east to the
THE HISTORY' OK THE TURKS. 103
west parts of the world, to molest and afflict the Christians. It Pr»P><ecV.
followeth more in the text : " And I saw three unclean spirits like K~i^~o7
frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of ^eeart>
the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, for they are Euphr*
the spirits of devils, doing wonders, to go unto the kings of the tes'
whole earth, to assemble and gather them together to the battle,
against the day of the great God Omnipotent," &c. And it followeth
shortly after, "And he assembled them together into a place which
is called in Hebrew Armageddon, that is, a trap or train of destruc-
tion."" And immediately it followeth in the same place, "And the
seventh angel poured out his vial in the air, and a mighty voice
came from heaven, out of the throne, saying, ' factum est,1 it is
done, or finished," &c. : whereby it is to be understood, that toward
the last consummation of the world, great force shall be seen, and
a mighty army of the enemies shall be collected and gathered
against the people and saints of the highest, and then conieth the
consummation, with ' factum est,-1 &e.
Wherefore it is not for nought that the Holy Spirit of God in An ex
the same place, a little before the sixth angel doth pour out his vial, of the "
doth exhort all the faithful, saying : "Behold, I come like a thief in q^Js1 10
the night ; blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest {** faith"
he walk naked, and men sec his filthiness,*" &c,
Nicholas de Lyra, and Paul, bishop of Burdens, and Matthias
Dorinkc, writing upon Apocalypse xiii. and expounding the mystery
of the second beast rising out of the earth, having the horns of a
lamb, &c, do apply the same to Mahomet and the Turks, with a
solemn declaration made upon the same. Which interpretation of
theirs, although in some points it may seem to have some appearance
of probability, neither can it be denied but that Mahomet and the
Turk be pestilent and wicked enemies of Christ our Lord, and most
bitter persecutors of his church ; yet, as touching the proper and
natural meaning of the apostle in ihat place, speaking of the false
lamb, Sec, if we consider well all the circumstances of that beast, The beast
and mark the consequence of the text, both of that which goeth hormifike
before and followeth after, we must needs grant, that Nicholas de tlie lamb-
Lyra with his fellows, and with all such-like of the pope's school the' pope,
that follow that school, be deceived, and that the description and
interpretation of that false horned lamb must necessarily be applied
only to the bishop of Rome, and none other; which is to be proved
by six principal causes or arguments :
The first is, for that this beast is described to bear the horns of a The first
lamb; bv which lamb, no doubt, is meant Christ. By the horns ^hy.'1'
of the lamb is signified the outward show or resemblance of Christ
our Saviour; which show or resemblance can have no relation to
Mahomet, for that he taketh himself to be above Christ, and Christ,
as an excellent prophet of God sitting at his feet. Wherefore seeing
Mahomet cometh neither as equal to Christ, nor as vicar under
Christ, this prophecy cannot agree in him, but only in him who
openly, in plain words, protested), that all Christ's lambs and sheep
not singularly, but universally through the whole world, arc committed
to him as vicar of Christ, and successor of Peter; and that all men
must confess the same of necessity, or else they arc none of Christ's
second
rem n.
](>4 THE HISTORY OF THE TIRKS.
Prophet*, sheep,' &c. : wherein it is easy to see where the pretenseel horns of
the lamb do grow.
The The second argument ; " And he spake like the dragon," &c.
A lamb's horns and the mouth of a dragon do not agree together.
And as they do not agree together in nature, so neither can they be
found in any one person, either Turk or other (if we will judge
trul v) so lively, as in the bishop of Rome. When thou hearest him
call himself the apostolical bishop, the vicar of Christ, the successor
of Peter, the servant of God's servants, &c. ; thou seest in him the
two horns of a lamb, and wouldst think him to be a lamb indeed,
and such a one as would wash your feet for humility ; but hear him
Bpeak, and you shall find him a dragon. See and read the epistle
of pope Martin V., above-mentioned, charging, commanding, and
threatening emperors, kings, dukes, princes, marquises, earls, barons,
knights, rectors, consuls, proconsuls, with their shires, their counties,
and the universities of their kingdoms ; provinces, cities, towns,
castles, villages, and other places. See the answer of pope Urban II.,
and his message to king William Rufus. Behold the works and
doings of pope Innocent against king John.
The imre Note also the answer of another pope to the king of England, who,
hora»'of for the price of the king's head, would not grant unto him the in-
:. imiih, yt.sting of his bishops. Mark well the Avords and doings of pope
mouth oi Hildebrand against the emperor Henry IV. ; also of pope Alex-
ander II., treading upon the neck of Frederic Barbarossa, not like a
lamb treading upon a dragon, but like a dragon treading upon a lamb ;
so that his own verse might be turned upon himself, " Tanquam aspis
et basiliscus super oviculam ambulans, et tanquam leo et draco con-
eulcans agnum." Consider moreover the behaviour, manner, condi-
tion, and property of almost all the popes who have been these six
hundred years, and what dragon or serpent could be more viperous
than their own doings and words can speak and give testimony against
themselves.
Thw It followeth, moreover, in the same prophecy of the Apocalypse
for the third argument, " And he doth all the power of the first beast
presently before his face, and causeth the earth, and all the inhabitants
therein, to honour the first beast, the stripe of whose deadly wound
was cured,'" &c.
rhetwo [n this prophecy two things are to be noted; first, what the first
H ' Ih!,"i, beast is, whose power the second beast doth execute. Secondly, what
this second beast is, which so doth exercise its power in its sight. The
bp"c''
first of these beasts described here in the Apocalypse, having seven
luads and ten horns, must needs signify the city of Rome, which may
easily be proved by two demonstrations. First, by the exposition of
the same Apocalypse xvii., where is declared and described the said
D beast to stand on seven hills, and to contain ten kings, having the
whole power of the dragon given; and also the same city to be
named 'The whore of Babylon, drunken with the blood of the
"•""• saints :' all which properties joined together, can agree in no wise
QUt only to the heathen empire of Rome, which city, at that time of
H rit in- these prophecies, had the government of the whole world. The
second demonstration or evidence may be deduced out of the number
0) K.\ Uonilac VIII Extra, ilc Majorit, ct Obcil.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 105
of the months assigned to this beast [Apoc. xiii.], for so it is written, Prophecy.
that this beast had power to make, that is, to work his malice against
Christ's people, forty-two months, which months, counted by sabbaths
of years (that is, every month for seven years), make up the just number
of those years in which the primitive church was under the terrible
persecutions of the heathen emperors of Rome, as is afore specified.
Which thing thus standing, proved and confessed, that the first The beast
beast must needs signify the empire and city of Rome; then must it JwohSni
necessarily follow that the second beast, with the lamb's horns, must °™*
signify the bishop and pope of the same city of Rome. The reason
hereof is evident and apparent by that which followcth in the pro-
phecy,1 where it is declared, that the second beast, having two horns
of a lamb, received and exercised all the power of the first beast,
before or in the sight of the said beast, which cannot be verified
either in the Turk or in any other, but only in the pope of Rome,
who, as you see, receiveth, usurpeth, and deriveth to himself all the The pope
power of that city and monarchy of Rome ; insomuch that he saith, ]^"J
that when Constantine or Ludovicus yielded unto him the rule and rule a,ld
kingdom of that city, he gave him but his own, and that, which of Rome,
right and duty belonged to him before.
And this authority or power over all the empire of Rome, he
worketh not in Asia, nor in Constantinople as the Turk doth, but in
the sight of the beast which gave him the power ; that is, in the city
of Rome itself, which is the first beast here in this prophecy of the
Apocalypse described.
Fourthly, It followcth moreover, " And he causeth the earth and Fourth
all the inhabitants therein, to worship and honour the first beast,2 reason-
which had a deadly wound, and was cured,1'' &c. The interpretation
of this part, as also of all the other parts of the same chapter, standeth
upon the definition of the first beast : for, it being granted, as cannot
be denied, that the first beast signifieth the city and empire of Rome,
it must consequently follow, that the bishop (whom we call the
pope) of the said city of Rome, must be understood by the second
beast, forasmuch as neither Turk nor any other, but only the bishop
of Rome, hath holden up the estimation and dignity of that city,
which began to be in ruin and decay by the Vandals, Goths, Heru-
lians, and Lombards, about a. d. 456 ; but afterwards by the bishop
of Rome, the pristine state and honour of that city revived again, and
flourished in as great veneration as ever it did before. And this it
is which the Holy Ghost seemeth here to mean of the first beast,
saying, " That he had a wound of the sword, and was cured ;" for so
it followeth.
Fifthly, " And he caused all the inhabitants of the earth to make Fifth
the image of the beast, which had the stripe of the sword and lived.
And it was given to him to give life to the image of the beast, and
to make the image thereof to speak, and to cause all them that
worshipped not the image of the beast, to be killed ; forcing all
persons, both little and great, rich and poor, bond and free, to take
the mark of the beast in their right hand, or in their foreheads, and
that none might buy or sell, but they which had the mark, or the
name of the beast, or the number of his name,'" fee.
(1) Aroc. xiii. (2) 'Engine* rur Otiyiov. Apoc. xiii.
n .(miii.
106 THE HISTOUY OF THE TURKS.
Prophecy. By giving life to the image of the beast, and making it to speak,
J^ is to be presupposed that the beast was at a near point of death, and
lie™1 Kv speechless before, insomuch that the city of Rome began to lose
rliied and change its name, and was called awhile Odacria, of Odacer, king
odacria. Qf tuc Herulians, who, by dint of sword, surprised the Romans; and
yet, notwithstanding, by means of this Roman prelate, the said city
of Rome, which was then ready to give up the ghost, so recovered her
majesty and strength again, that it is hard to say whether Rome did
ever ruffle and rage in her tyranny before, in the time of Nero,
Domitian, Dioclesian, and other emperors, more tragically than she
hath done under the pope; or whether that Rome had all kings,
queens, princes, dukes, lords, and all subjects more under obedience
and subjection, when the emperors reigned, or now in the reign
i.ifc in of the pope. And therefore it is said not without cause by the
the image jj^ q^^ t]lat jt js given to him, " to give life and speech to the
beast.
The
image
Koine
again as
cruelly as
image of the beast, causing all them to be slain which will not worship
of the image of the beast,111 Sec. As for example hereof, who seeth not
I'eaketh what numbers and multitudes of christian men, women, and children
in all countries have been put to fire and sword? Stories of all times
will declare, what havoc hath been made of christian blood about
the pre-eminence and majority of the see of Rome. What churches
and countries, both Greek and Latin, have been excommunicated ?
what kings have been deposed, and emperors stripped from their
imperial seat ? and all because they would not stoop and bend to the
image of the beast, that is, to the majesty raid title of Rome, advanced
up so highly now by the bishop thereof, as it was never higher before
in the reign of Nero or Dioclesian. Wherefore, taking the first beast
to signify the empire of Rome, which cannot be denied, it is plain
that the second beast must necessarily be applied to the pope, and
not to the Turk, forasmuch as the Turk seeketh nothing less than
the advancement of that empire, but rather striveth against it to
pluck it down.
Sixth The sixth and last argument is grounded upon the number of .the
Number name of the beast, expressed by the Holy Ghost in the same prophecy,
nameeof '*>' tnc u'tters X^ E> *> m which letters, although there lieth great dark-
I'" '-'st ness and difficulty to be understood, yet certain ancient Fathers who
were disciples and hearers of those who heard St. John himself,
as IienaMis and others, do expound the said letters, conjecturally, to
contain the name of the beast, and to be the name of a man under
this word XorcTvos :'- whereas else, no other name lightly of any per-
son, either in Greek or Latin, will agree to the same, save only the
foresaid name Xartlvo; ; although some later writers, giving their
conjectures upon the same, do find the name of Lateranus, in Hebrew
letters, to answer to the same number. Some feign other names, as,
avTB/MOS or retroi/, made words, which signify nothing, as Diclux, or
Luduuic, by Roman letters, &c. lint of all names properly signifv-
j,,',',i,',!" rag any man, none eometh so near to the number of this mystery (if
chajlter " S° ty order of letters) as doth the word XaTELVog aforesaid. And
thus much by the way and occasion of Nicholas dc Lyra, Paulus
Burgen, Matthias Dorinke, the author of Fortalilium Fidci, and other
- ; "i' '"I non udoraverin) imaginem bestias.' Apoc.
raaketb the full numbex oi'OGfi.
THE IIISTOUY OK THE TUKKS. 107
commentators more, of the same faction ; who, writing upon tliis xiiitli Pnphetg.
chapter of the Apocalypse, and not considering the circumstances
thereof, both are deceived themselves, and deceive many others, ap-
plying that to the Turk, which cannot otherwise be verified, but only
upon the pope, as may appear sufficiently by the premises. Not that
I write this of any mood or malice, cither to the city of Rome, or to
the person of the bishop, as being God's creature ; but being occa-
sioned here to treat of the prophecies against the Turks, I would wish
the readers not to be deceived, but rightly to understand the simple
Scriptures according as they lie, to the intent that the true meaning
thereof, being bolted out, it may be better known what prophecies
directly make against these Turks ; what otherwise.
In the which prophecies against the Turks, now to proceed, let us
come to Apocalypse xx., wherein the holy Scripture seemeth plainly
and directly to notify the said Turks. The words of the prophecy be
these : " And I saw an angel descending from heaven, having the
key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand ; and he took
the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satanas, and bound
him up for a thousand years, and cast him into the pit, and sealed
him up, that he should not seduce the people any more, till the thou-
sand years were expired : and, after that, he must be let loose for a
little while," &c. And it followeth after, "And when the thousand
years' shall be complete, Satanas shall be let out of his dungeon, and
shall go abroad to seduce the people, which are on the four corners of
the land of Gog and Magog, to assemble them to battle; whose num-
ber is like to the sands of the sea. And they Avent up upon the
latitude or breadth of the earth, and compassed about the tents of the
saints, and the well-beloved cities,"" &c.
To the perfect understanding of this prophecy, three things are Thwe
necessary to be known. First, what is meant by the binding up and be'noted
loosing out of Satan as the old dragon. Secondly, at what time and jj» "*•
year he was first chained up and sealed for a thousand years. Thirdly, and i«w-
at what year and time these thousand years did end, when he should staton?*0'
be loosed out again for a little season. Which three points being
well examined and marked, the prophecy may easily be understood
directly to be meant of the Turk : albeit analogically, some part
thereof may also be referred, not improperly, unto the pope, as is
above notified.
First, by binding and loosing of Satan seemeth to be meant, the what is
ceasing and staying of the cruel and horrible persecution of the hea- Mnd"ngb'
then emperors of Koine against the true Christians, as is to be seen in g*j£
the ten first persecutions in the primitive church above described in
the former part of these Acts and Monuments; in which most bloody
persecutions Satan the devil then raged without all measure, till the
time it pleased Almighty God to stop this old serpent, and to tic him
shorter. And thus have you to understand what is meant by the
binding up of Satan for a thousand years; whereby is signified, that
the persecution against the Christians, stirred up by the beast (that is,
in the empire of Rome, through the instigation of Satan), shall not
always continue, but shall break up after a certain time, and shall
cease for a thousand years, &c.
Now at what time and year this persecution, that is, the fury and
K),^ THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
p,n,,hec,j rage of Satan should cease, is also declared in the Apocalypse before ;
r uf' where, in the xith and xiiith chapters, we read, that the beast afore-
Mnding mentioned shall have power to work his malice and mischief the space
a"' of forty-two months, and no more ; and then that Satan should be
locked up for a thousand years. The computation of which months,
tat; two being counted by sabbaths of years (after the example of the sixty-
"•JjJJ" nine weeks of Daniel, chapter xi.), it doth bring us to the just year
Ap«»- and time, when that terrible persecution in the primitive church
,ypM' should end ; and so it did. For, give to every month a sabbath of
years, that is, reckon every month for seven years, and that maketh
two hundred and ninety-four years, which was the full time between
the 18th year of Tiberius (under whom Christ suffered) and the
death of Maxentius, the last persecutor of the primitive church in
Suppuu- Europe, subdued by Constantino, as may appear by calculating the
''■.'.'rs'iR- years, months, and days between the said year of the reign of
tween the Tiberius, and the latter end of Maxentius : and so have you the
lI'in-'.iiKi supputation of the year and time when Satan was first bound up,
!,', u!,'.'" after he had raged in the primitive church two and forty months ;
li'ms'in" which months, as is said, being counted by sabbaths of years, after
thepri- the usual manner of the Scripture, amount to two hundred and
church, ninety-four years ; and so much, was the full time between the
passion of our Lord, which was in the 18th year of Tiberius, unto
the last year of Maxentius.
Tiiepope And here, by the way, cometh a note to be observed, that for-
Becond asnmch as by the number of these forty-two months specified in the
,"'"t. Apocalypse, the empire of Rome must necessarily be confessed to
mention- l • ■ r > I . J M
ed. be the first beast; therefore it must by like necessity follow, the
bishop of Rome to be the second beast, with the two horns of
the lamb, for that he only hath and doth cause the said empire
of Rome to revive and to be magnified, and so doth not the Turk,
but rather laboureth to the contrary. Wherefore, let every chris-
tian man be wise, and beware betimes how he taketh the mark of
the beast, lest peradventure it follow upon him, that he drink
of that terrible cup of wrath mentioned in the xivth chapter of
the Apocalypse.1
Third Thirdly, it remaincth to be discussed touching the third point
tV,'.rt,.'ro- m tn's aforesaid prophecy, that as we have found out (through
i '" •'•>'• the help of Christ) the year and time of Satan's binding, so we
search out likewise the time and season of his loosing out, which,
by the testimony of Scripture, was proved to be a thousand years
after his binding up ; and so rightly, according to the time appointed,
Begin- it came to pass. For if we number well by the Scripture the year
',',",'. '"r of his binding up, which was from the passion of our Lord two
hundred and ninety-four years, and add thereto a thousand years, it
mounteth to one thousand two hundred and ninety-four ; which was
the very year when Ottoman, the first Turk, began his reign ; which
was the first spring and wellhead of all these woful calamities that
the church of Christ hath felt, both in Asia, Africa, and Europe,
almost, these three hundred years past. For so we find in chronicles,
that the kingdom of the Turks being first divided into four families.
A.D. 1280, at length the family of Ottoman prevailed, and therc-
1) ' Kt. Uic bibet do vino toe lJci ' Apo. xiv.
,„..„••■
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 109
upon came these, whom we now call Turks ; which was about the Proptteg.
same time when pope Boniface VIII. was bishop of Rome.
Here by the way, this is again to be noted, that after the decree Time of
of transubstantiation was enacted in the council of Latcran by pope sta"tiab"
Innocent III., a.d. 1251, not long after, about a.d. 1260, were stirred Jg,™-
up the power and arms of the Oguzians, and of Orthogule, father of Turks.
Ottoman, who, about a.d. 1294, began first to vex the Christians
about Pontus and Bithynia; and so beginning his kingdom, a.d.
1300, reigned twenty-eight years, as is afore-mentioned.1
Mention was made before of Ezekiel prophesying against Gog, j^ffiff*
whose words divers expositors do apply against the Turk, and are xxxviu.
these :
' Thou shalt come from thy place out of the North parts, thou and much
people with thee, all riding upon horses, a great and a mighty army ; and thou
shalt come up against my people of Israel as a cloud, to cover the land. Thou
shalt be in the latter days, and I will bring thee upon my land, that the heathen
may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog ! before their eyes.
Thus saith the Lord God, Art not thou he, of whom I have spoken in the old
time by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel, that prophesied in those
days and years, that I would bring thee upon them ? At the same time also
when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, my wrath
shall arise in mine anger ; for in mine indignation, and in the fire of my wrath
have I spoken it. Surely at that time there shall be a great shaking in the
land of Israel, so that the fishes of the sea, the fowls of the heaven, the beasts
of the field, and all that move and creep upon the earth, and all the men that
are upon the earth shall tremble at my presence ; the mountains shall be over-
thrown ; the stars shall fall; and every man shall fall to the ground,' &c.
THE PROPHECIES OF METHODIUS, HILDEGARD, AND OTHERS,
CONCERNING THE REIGN AND RUIN OF THE TURKS.
Unto these testimonies above excerpted out of the holy Scriptures, Metho-
let us add also the prophetical revelations of Methodius, Hildegard, ph^ieT'
Sibylla, and others. This Methodius is thought of some to be the
same Methodius of whom Jerome and Suidas make mention ; who
was bishop first of Olympus in Lycia, then of Tyre, and suffered
martyrdom in the last persecution of the primitive church under
Dioclesian ; unto whom also Trithemius attributeth the book entitled His boot
' De quatuor novissimis temporalis.'' But that cannot be, forasmuch mistaken-
as the said Methodius doth cite and allege the master of sentences,
namely, in his second book and sixth distinction, which master of
sentences followed more than a thousand years after Christ ; besides
certain other fabulous matters contained in the same book. Albeit,
because he speaketh there of many things concerning the state of the
church under Antichrist, and the reformation of religion, as seemcth
rightly to come to pass, and more is like to follow, I thought not
to defraud the reader thereof, leaving the credit of the author to his
arbitrement, to esteem and judge of him, as he seeth cause.2 Among
(1) Ex Leonico Chalcondyla, lib. i.
(2) The prophecies of Methodius have not been fulfilled ; a specimen of the strange effusions of
Hildegard will be seen in vol. ii. p. 353. Justin laid great stress apqn the few remaining works of the
Sibyllte, and some of the Christians of the early church were so prejudiced in their favour that ir
gave occasion to Celsus to stigmatize them with the name of " Sibyllists." The christian reader
may peruse these prophecies with curiosity, but he will return, with firmer confidence, to that
\\{) THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
rrophtcy. divers other places of Methodius, prophesying of the latter time,
these words do follow :
His pro- « After the children of Ishmael had multiplied in their generations to an infi-
phe.-ies njte anj innumerable multitude in the desert aforesaid, they came out of the
Jngth?" wilderness of Araby, and entered into the habitable land, and fought with the
Turk*. kings of the Gentiles, who were in the land of promise, and the land was filled
witii them. And after seventy weeks and a half of their power, wherewith
they have subdued all the kingdoms of the Gentiles, their heart was exalted ;
seeing themselves so to have prevailed, and to have conquered all things,' &c.
And afterwards it followeth of the same matter in this sort :
' It shall come to pass that the said seed of Ishmael shall issue out and obtain
the whole world, with the regions thereof, in the entering of peace, from the
land of Egypt unto Ethiopia ; and from the flood Euphrates unto India ; and
from the river Tigris to the entering of Nabaot, the kingdom of Jonithus, the
The first son of Noah ; and from the North unto Rome and Illyricum, Egypt and Thes-
itate of s.-Jonica and Albania, and so forth to the sea Ponticum, which divideth the
'"riling" said kingdoms from Germany and France ; and their yoke shall be double upon
'he the necks of all nations and Gentiles; neither shall there be nation nor kingdom
the'safa^ under heaven, which shall be able to stand against them in battle, until the
cens. number of eight weeks of years,'1 &c.
Briefly, as in a gross sum, this shall suffice to admonish the reader
touching the meaning and method of the prophecies of Methodius,
which Methodius, first describing the long and tedious afflictions of
Christ's church, thus maketh mention of the seed of Ishmael :
' The seed of Ishmael, coming out of the parts and deserts of Araby, shall
destroy,' saith he, ' and vanquish the whole earth, so that the Christians shall
be given of God to the hands of the filthy barbarians, to be slain, polluted, and
Chris- captived : Persia, Armenia, Cappadocia, Cilicia, Syria, Egypt, the east parts,
UJS ri Asia, Spain, all Greece, France, Germany, Agathonia, Sicily, the Romans
by them, also, shall be slain and put to flight ; also the islands of the seas shall be brought
to desolation and captivity, and put to the sword. Which tribulation of the
Christians shall be without mercy or measure; the ransom of gold and silver
and other exaction.-: intolerable ; but especially the dwellers in Egypt and Syria
shall be most in the affliction of those times. And Jerusalem shall be filled
with multitudes of people brought thither in captivity, from the four winds
which are under heaven ; so that boasts also, and fowls, and fish in the water,
and the waters of the sea, shall be to them obedient. Cities and towns, which
were before full of people, shall be laid waste. Women with child shall be
\ smitten; their children sticked ; infants taken from their mothers, and cast in
the streets, and none shall bury them. The riders and sage of the people shall
be slain, ond thrown out to the beasts. Churches shall be spoiled; the priests
destroyed; virgins abused, and men compelled to sell their children; and the
coining of them shall be chastisement without mercy ; and with them shall go
these four plagues, captivity, destruction, perdition, and desolation.'
Me addeth much more, which for brevity I overpass. "And this
affliction,11 saith he, " shall last eight weeks, or sabbaths of years ;""
which I take to signily eight hundred years, &c.
Secondly, After these terrible plagues thus described by Metho-
dius upon the Christians, which he saith shall fall upon them for their
•more sure word of prophecy,' which rarae 'not by the will of man,' but in which ' holy men of
old «pakc as llicv wire moved by the Holy Ghost.'— Ed.
(H Btffbl weeks „i years, counting every week for a sabbath of years, that is, every dav for a
>roj, i oiiu-tl- to lilt v six years.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. Ill
wicked abominations recited in the first and second chapters of St. Prophecy
Paul to the Romans ; the said Methodius afterward, in this great second ~
distress of the Christians, being out of all hope and comfort of relief, "",'}' .[[\-Xf.
declareth and speaketh of a certain king of the Greeks or Romans, Jiang, re-
who sliall restore peace again to the Christians ; in which peace they theit
shall re-edify their cities and mansions again, the priests shall be deli- ijlat'ues-
vered from their grievances, and men at that time shall rest from their
tribulations ; and then shall the king of the Romans dwell in the city
of Jerusalem a week or sabbath, and a half of times, Sec.
Thirdly, During the time of this peace the said Methodius saith, JSSof"
that men shall fall into licentious security, and careless life; and by the'
then, according to the words of the apostle, saying, " When of"!!""
they shall say, Peace, peace, sudden destruction shall .fall upon Turks
them :"
'Then,' saith he, ' shall be opened the gates of the North, and the beastly
people shall break in, which king Alexander the Great did close up within two
mountains, making his prayer unto the Lord God, that he would bind up that
bestial and execrable people, lest with their filthy and detestable pollutions they
should come out and pollute the Holy Land. Whose intercession being heard,
the Lord commanded them to be inclosed within two mountains in the north
parts, to the deepness of twelve cubits,' which signifieth, peradventure, twelve
hundred years, ' so that neither by witchcraft, nor by any means, they could
get out, or any might come unto them, until the time of the Lord appointed,
which is,' saith he, 'the latter times; and then, according to the prophecy of
Ezekiel, in the latter time of the consummation of the world, Gog and Magog,
out from the North, shall come forth into the land of Israel, and shall work all
this mischief against the Christians, above recited. And then,' saith Metho-
dius, proceeding in his prophecies, ' shall the king of the Romans, after he hath
reigned in Jerusalem a sabbath of times, and a half,1 that is,' saith Methodius,
1 ten years and a half, take the crown from his head,2 and yield it up to the cross
in Golgotha, where Christ was crucified, and shall die. And the cross with
the crown shall be taken into heaven, which shall not appear again before the
coming of the Lord.'
Fourthly, It followeth then, moreover, in the prophecies of Me-
thodius, who declareth that when the week or sabbath and half week
of times sliall end, and when the king of Romans shall give up his
crown in Jerusalem, and die :
' Then immediately shall Antichrist, the son of perdition, begin to appear, and
be born in Jewry, of the tribe of Dan, whereof also came Judas Iscariot ; and
he sliall be born,' saith Methodius, ' in Chorazin, and shall be bred in IJcthsaida,
and shall reign in Capernaum ; to which three cities, Christ the Lord gave his
third ' Vac.' And when great tribulation shall increase and multiply in the days
of this Antichrist, and all lordship and dominion shall be destroyed, the Lord shall
send his two faithful and dear servants, Enoch and Elias, to reprove and detect
the false, seducing, and lying forgeries of this Antichrist, openly before all men ;
so that the people, seeing themselves falsely beguiled and seduced by this son of
perdition, coming out of the temple dissemblingly, to the destruction of many,
shall leave and flee from him, and join themselves to the said two holy prophets :
which son of perdition and Antichrist, seeing his proceedings so to be reproved, Oestruc-
and brought into contempt, in his fury and anger shall kill the two prophets rf^^J"
God. And then sliall appear,' saith Methodius, 'the sign of the coming of the
Son of Man ; and he shall come in the clouds of heavenly glory, and shall destroy
the enemy with the spirit of his mouth,' &c.
(T) The reign of christian kings in Jerusalem lasted eighty-eight years. A. n. 1187.
(2) By this resigning up the crown to the crucifix in Grjlgotha, is signified the ceasing of tho
Christians in Jerusalem till the coming of Christ. By this tribe of Dan, and the cities Chorazin,
Bethsaida, and Capernaum, are signified God's great malediction upon Antichrist.
ofAn-
112 THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS
INTERPRETATION OF PROPHECY
To these prophecies and testimonies of Methodius, what credit is
to be given, I leave it to the reader. But if the meaning of his
prophecies go by such order of times as is set and disposed in his
book, he seemeth to describe unto us four principal states and altera-
tions of times to come.
The com- The first state and alteration is by Mahomet and the Saracens,
Itaacena? who be the offspring and sons of Ishmael, coming out of Araby, in
the time of Heraclius, emperor of Constantinople, a.d. 630, Avho,
rebelling against Heraclius, increased and prevailed still more and
more against the Christians, both in Asia and Africa, and also in
many places in Europe ; especially in Spain and Italy.
The com- The second state and alteration he prophesieth to come by the
Turkl.tlie Turk, who, first coming out of the far parts of Scythia, that is, out of
the north, first overcame the Saracens, subdued the Persians, and
afterwards, joining together with the Saracens, conquered the king-
dom of Jerusalem, about a.d. 1187; then subdued Syria and most
part of Asia, &c. And these be they whom Methodius seemeth to
mean, speaking of the vile and miserable people closed up of the
Lord God, at the intercession of Alexander the great captain in the
north, between two mountains the deepness of twelve cubits, lest that
filthy corrupt nation should pollute the earth with their wickedness :
whereby are meant these Turks, who coming out from the uttermost
scythia parts of the north, that is, out of Scythia, and the mountains of Cau-
i'l.^m.'111 casus, or else Imaus, were withholden and kept back of Almighty
God, for Christ's cause, that they might not harm his church a long
space, during the time of twelve hundred years: yea, and then the
sins of the Christians so deserving, they were permitted of Almighty
God to break out, and to invade the church ; who, now joining
together with the Saracens, have wrought, and daily do work, all these
grievances against our christian brethren, as we see this day is come
to pass : and more is like to follow, except the hand of the Lord, which
let them out, do pluck them in again.
Moreover, in the same space, between the reign of the Saracens
and the Turks, where Methodius speaketh of the king of Romans,
who should restore quietness to the church, and should reign in Jeru-
salem a sabbath of times, and half a sabbath ; thereby seemeth to be
understood the voyage of christian princes out of the west parts oi
y Europe, under Godfrcd, duke of Lotharing, and his two brethren,
and many other christian princes, with three hundred thousand foot-
of Jeru-
udem
i,y the men, and one hundred thousand horsemen ; who, fighting against the
Saracens, recovered again from them the city of Jerusalem, a.d. 1099,
cen/"8" wm('n city before had been in their possession the term of four hun-
Rensed
ti. ins from
I.)- died and ninety years.1 After which victory got, first Godfrcd, then
eighty- Baldwin, his brother, and others after them, to the number of nine
Bight
yiarv ;
.•mil won
from
christian kings, reigned in Jerusalem the space of eighty-eight years;
and alter that, through the discord of the Christians' not agreeing
tLra amongst themselves, both Jerusalem and Syria, with other parts or
■£>■*» Asia besides, were Bubdued ami won of the Turks, which yet to this
day they still keep. And this was a.d. 1187.
(1) Ex Paulo Jovio.
inks.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS'. \\ .',
About which year and time (as followeth in Methodius), when the w<v,/„,?/.
city of Jerusalem shall be won of the Turks, then shall Antichrist vimil„,
begin to be born of the tribe of Dan, of whom came Judas Iscariot, ^k
and shall be born in Chorazin, and bred in Bcthsaida, and reign in Ami
Capernaum : meaning that this Antichrist, or son of perdition, shall scX,!.' "
be full of God's malediction, noted by Judas Iscariot, and these three
cities, against whom was spoken thrice ' Vse,1 ot the Lord.
And here is moreover to be noted, that Methodius saith, not that
Antichrist shall be born among the Saracens or Turks, but among
the people of God, and of the tribe of Israel. Whereby is to be
collected, that Antichrist shall not come of the Saracens, nor Turks,
but shall spring up among the Christians, and, saith Methodius,
" shall seem to come out of the temple, to deceive many,11 &c.
Whereby the pope may seem, rather than the Saracen or the Turk,
to be described, forasmuch as the pope, being elected, nourished, and
reigning, in the midst of God's people at Rome, sitteth in the temple,
and very place of Christ ; and, no doubt, deceiveth many, &c.
And now, to come to the time assigned of Methodius, here is to
be added also, that which we read in Antoninus, part 3, that about
this said present time, a certain bishop of Florence preached that
Antichrist was then coming : but the pope commanded him to keep
silence, and to speak no more thereof. Now, why the pope so did,
and why he could not abide the preaching of Antichrist, I refer it to
those who list to muse more upon the matter. This is certain, that
about this time here assigned by Methodius, came Peter the Lom-
bard, Gratian, and pope Innocent III., the first authors and patrons
of transubstantiation. At which time also began the first persecution Trangnb .
by the church of Rome against the Albigenses or Waldenses, about tton.15*-
Toulouse, Bourges, and Avignon, of whom seventeen thousand the The lirsl
• i-iii ill- persecu-
same time were slam, by the popes crossed soldiers, among whom Bon.
friar Dominic was then the ehiefest doer; about which time also was n'"!"'"
friar Francis, of which two came the two orders of begging friars : all llancis-
which began much about one time together, a.d. 1215, which were
nearly within twenty years after the kingdom of the Christians was
taken of the Turks, according to the prophecy above-said.1
It followeth, moreover, in Methodius, " In his time, all lordship The pope
and domination shall cease and give over,11 &c. ; the verity whereof ^^
we see now accomplished in the pope, for, where the pope with his
double sword and triple crown doth come, there all secular power
must give place ; both emperors, kings, and princes must stoop.
So king John yielded up his crown to Pandulph, the pope's legate, Notes of
and was in his hands five days, a.d. 1217. ^SSit
Childeric, the French king, had his crown taken from him, and
given to Pepin, a.d. 747.
Henry IV., emperor, was forced to submit himself and his sceptre
to pope Hildebrand, a.d. 1077.
Frederic Barbarossa, emperor, in St. Mark's church in Venice, was
fain to lav down his neck under pope Alexander's feet, a.d. 1~77;
which Frederic also before was fain to hold the stirrup to pope
Adrian, Sec.
What should I speak of the ambassador of Venice, named Fran-
(1) Ex Antonin. part iii. tit. 1!>, cap. I.
VOL. IV. I
]]4 THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS.
p,,.ri,,r,,. ciscus Dandulus? who, being sent to pope Clement V., was made to
' lie under the pope's table like a dog, and gather up the crumbs;
mentioned in Sabellicus JEnn. ix. lib. 7.
Henry III., being emperor, had his diadem first set on with the
feet of the pope, and afterwards struck off from his head with the
pope !
foot again.
Nearnens
of the
And what shall T speak more hereof, when Charlemagne submit-
ted himself so low as to kiss the feet of pope Leo, a.d. 800?
It followeth then in the prophecy of Methodius :
' In the tribulation of those days shall be sent from God two special prophets,
Enoch and Elias, to reprove and disclose the fraudulent falsehood of Antichrist;
and many, seeing his delusion, shall forsake him, and follow them : whereat
Antichrist being grieved, shall kill them,' &c.
We never read yet, in any story, of any such two prophets to be
sent either to the Saracens, or to the Turks : whereas, against the
pope, we read John Huss and Jerome of Prague, two learned martyrs
and prophets of God, to have been sent, and to have reproved and
described the anatomy of Antichrist; and, at last, to have been
burned for their labour. And what prophet can speak more plainly,
either Enoch or Elias, than did Jerome of Prague, prophesying of the
coming of Martin Luther, a hundred years after him ? when the
pope and his fellows should answer to God and to him. The time
we see came just. Now let the pope with his fellows see, what
i.ords answer thev can make. It followeth further ill Methodius, con-
ment. eluding Ins prophecy :
' And then shall appear the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven,
with celestial glory,' &c.
Wherefore after the burning of these two notable prophets, with
many other thousands burned also since their time by the bishop of
Home, it is to be thought that the coming of Christ's judgment in
the clouds, is not far off. " Veni cito Domine." Amen !
And thus much touching Methodius, of whose prophecies, how
much or how little is to be esteemed, I leave it indifferent unto the
reader. For me it shall suffice simply to have recited his words, as
I find them in his book contained ; noting this by the way, that of
this book of Methodius, c Dc novissimis temporibus,' neither Jerome
in his catalogue, nor Suidas, nor yet Aventinus, in the place where
Prophecy he treateth purposely of such prophecies, maketh any mention. As
(i touching Hildegard and Briget, and others, whom the French call
Briget. Bardi, for their songs and prophetical verses, sufficient hath been
alleged, before out of Aventinus:2 who, in his third book of
Chronicles, writing of the testimonies of Hildegard, Briget, and the
Bardi, seemeth to ground upon them, that the Turks, whether we
A caveat will or not, shall have their imperial seat at Cologne; and I pray God
Had?8" ,,nt 't come not to pass, that the Turk do give some attempt against
England by the seas, before that he come to Cologne by land.3
Brevity causeth me to cut off many testimonies and revelations of
these above said, or else 1 could here rehearse the prophetical words
in Vid. Inprlmo Tom. operum Julian. Hus. deAnatomia.
'' A\cntin. lib. iii. Annalium. (8) Ex Brigltta. lib. iv. c. 57.
THE HISTOKY OF THE TURKS.
11
of Briget, lib. iv. c. 57, concerning the city and church of Rome, of r™v>^>.i-
which she saith thus ■
' It must be purged and scoured with three tilings, to wit, with sharp sword, Prophe-
with fire, and with the plough, and that God will do with that city, as one that g" "[
removeth plants out of one place unto another : and, finally, that the city of
Rome shall sustain the sentence, as if a judge should command the skin to be
flayed oft', the blood to be drawn from the flesh, and the flesh to be cut in small
pieces, and the bones thereof to be broken ; so that all the marrow may be
squeezed from the same,' &c.
But for brevity I let Briget pass, and will declare something out Prophe-
of Erythrea Sibylla, in her book of prophecies found in St. George's E^tSrea
church in Venice ; where she, prophesying many things of the birth ^£a
of Christ under Augustus, and of the birth of John Baptist, and of EnpaUa.
baptism, of the apostles, of the conversion of the Gentiles, and of
Constantine, &c. hath these words :l
'After the peaceable bull shall conclude all the climes of the world under
tribute, in those days a heavenly lamb shall come. And the days shall conic,
when the power of the flowing stream shall be magnified in water, and the lion,
the monarch, shall be converted to the lamb, which shall shine to all men, and
subvert kingdoms.'
Moreover saith Sibylla :
' In the latter age God shall be humbled, and the divine offspring shall be Prophe-
abased, and deity shall be joined with humanity, the lamb shall lie in hay, and ^.jf af
God and man shall be bred up under a maiden's attendance : signs and won- Christ.
ders shall go before amongst the circumcised,' &c. Also, 'An aged woman
shall conceive a child, having knowledge of things to come. The world shall
marvel at Bootes 'the star,' which shall be a leader to his birth; he having
thirty-two feet, and six thumbs, shall choose to himself out of fishers and
abjects, the number of twelve, and one devil, not with sword, nor with battle,' &c.
Afterwards thus it followeth, moreover, in Sibylla, saying :
'The health of the lamb lying5 shall be clothed with a few spoils of the lion.
Black shall be turned into red. He shall subdue the city of /Eneas, and kings,
but in the book of the fisher: In dejection and poverty he shall conquer riches,
and shall tread down pride with his own death. In the night he shall rise up,
and be changed, he shall live and reign, and all these things shall be consum-
mated, and regeneration or 'new things' be made : at last he shall judge both
good and evil,' &c.
And thus much briefly collected out of Sibylla Erythrea, concern-
ing Christ our Lord.
Furthermore, touching the state and course of the church, and of
Antichrist, it followeth in the said Sibylla, saying:
1 Then shall four winged beasts3 rise up in testimony ; they shall sound out
with trumpets the name of the lamb, sowing righteousness, and the law irre-
prehensible; against which law the beast shall gainstand, and tin- abomination
and froth of the dragon. But a marvellous star -hall rise, having the image of
the four beasts, and shall be in a marvellous multitude ; it shall bring light to
the Greeks, and shall illustrate the world. The lake of the fishes shall bring
(1) Ex Erythrea Sibylla in suo Nazilographo. i. Imperiali soripto.
(2) The lamb lying, that is, the church, without travail shall be maintained with some living or
possessions of the chief rulers.
(3) By these four beasts is meant the four monarchies of the world, that is, the multitude of all
the kingdom of the Gentiles, as in the Apocal Jiy the city of .Eneas is meant Home.
i 2
116 THE llf STORY OF THE TUltKS.
Prophecy, the name of the lamb with power into the city of iEneas, unto the end of the
" world or time.' 'Then in the city of JEneas the star joined shall loose such as
wore bound of the devil, and thereof he shall rejoice and glory, and glorious
-hall be his end,' &c.
After this Sibylla writing, as it seemeth, of Antichrist, importeth
these words :
Prophecy ' And it shall come to pass, that an horrible beast shall come out of the east,
of Sibylla whose roaring shall be heard to Africa, to the people of Carthage, which hath
ciirut" seven heads, and sceptres innumerable, feet six hundred and sixty-three.1 He
shall gainstand the lamb, to blaspheme his testament, increasing the waters of
the dragon. The kings and princes of the world he shall burn in intolerable
swat, and they shall not diminish his feet. And then two stars, like to the
first star, shall arise against the beast, and shall not prevail, till the abomination
shall be come, and the will of the Lord shall be consummated.'
And again, speaking of the same matter, he inferreth these words
of the aforesaid two stars above mentioned :
' And towards the latter days two bright stars shall arise,3 raising up men
lying dead in their sins, being like to the first star, having the face of the four
beasts, which shall resist the beast, and the waters of the dragon, testifying [or
preaching] the name and law of the lamb, the destruction of abomination and
judgment, and shall diminish his waters ; but they shall be weakened in the
bread of affliction, and they shall rise again in stronger force,' &c.
And it followeth moreover :
1 After the abomination, then shall truth be revealed, and the lamb shall be
known, to whom regions and countries shall submit their necks, and all earthly
men shall agree together in one, to come into one fold, and to be ruled under
one discipline ; and after this shall be but a small time,' &c.
And shortly after, the said Sibylla speaking of the latter judgment
to come, declareth how all the abominations of sins shall come before
l he Lamb; and that terrible fire shall fall from heaven, which shall
consume all earthly things created unto the top of heaven, &c.
And thus much out of Sibylla, touching her prophecies of Christ
and Antichrist, according as I found them alleged by a certain ca-
tholic Romish writer, in his book entitled ' Onus Ecclesise,'' ex-
cerpted, as he saith, out of the library of St. George, in the city o.
Venice.
Philip Mclancthon, in his preface upon ' Bartholomams Georgienitz
Peregrinus,1 writing of the origin and manners of the Turks, allegeth
a certain prophecy of Hiltcnus, mentioned hereafter, which foresaid
that the Turks should bear rule in Italy and in Germany, a.d. 1600.
Now it remaineth, in conclusion of these prophecies of the Turks,
something to say of the Turks1 own prophecies, concerning the en-
during and ending of their own kingdom, whose prophetical prog-
nostication, being taken out of their own language, and their own
books, I though! here to insert, as I find it alleged in the book of the
aforesaid Bartnolomseus Georgienitz, as followeth :
(1) The six hundred and sixty-three feet do mean the years of his reign.
(2) These two Stan seem to mean lluss and Jerome, who being put to death by the pope,
theii doetrine rose again more strongly than before.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 117
A Turkish Prophecy in the Persian Tongue, of the Reign and Ruin Pr"i',u'c!f-
of the Turks.
Patissahomoz ghelur, Ciafcrum memleketi alur, kcuzul alniai alnr, Kapzeiler
iediy ladegh Gyaur keleci csikmasse, on ikiyladogh onlaron beghlig eder : eufi
iapar, baglii diker bahesai baghlar, uglikczi olur, onichi yldensora Hristianon
Keleci csichar, ol Turchi gerestine tus cluire.
The same in Latin.
Imperator noster veniet, ethnici principis ' regnum capiet, rubrum quoque
pomum capiet, in suam potestatem rediget: quod si septinunn usque annum
Christianorum gladius non insurrexit, usque ad duodecimum annum eis domi-
nabiUir. Domos aedificabit, vineas plantabit, hortos sepibus muniet, liberos
procreabit, et post duodecimum annum apparebit Christianorum gladius, qui
Turcam quaqua versum in fugam aget.
The same in English.
Our emperor shall come ; he shall get the kingdom of the Gentiles' prince ;
also he shall take the red apple, and shall bring it under his subjection : and if
the sword of the Christians shall not rise unto the seventh year, he shall have domi-
nion over them unto the twelfth year. He shall build houses, plant vinevards, shall
hedge about his orchards, shall procreate children ; and after the twelfth year shall
appear the sword of the Christians, which shall put the Turk to flight every where.
Those who make declaration of this Turkish prophecy, do expound
this twelfth year to signify the twelfth year after the winning of Con-
stantinople ; which Constantinople, say they, is meant by the red
apple : and after that twelfth year, say they, shall rise the sword of
the Christians, &c. And this prophecy, being written and translated
out of the Persian tongue, with this exposition upon the same, is to Exposi-
be found in the book of Bartholoniseus Georgienitz. Albeit, concern- tu"^1116
ing the exposition thereof, it seemeth not to be true, which is there prophecy.
spoken of the twelfth year after the winning of Constantinople, being
now one hundred years since the winning thereof.
Wherefore it may rather seem probable, that by the seventh and
twelfth years of the Turks, this to be the meaning; that if the seventh
of the Ottoman Turks do escape the sword of the Christians, they
shall continue, build, and plant, &c, until the twelfth Turk, who is
this Solyman ; and then, after that, shall rise the Christian's sword,
which shall put them to flight, and vanquish them in all quarters.
And this exposition may seem to accord with the place of Genesis
xxv. ; wherein is written of Ishmael, that he had twelve sons, and no Another
more : so, that this Solyman, being the twelfth Turk after Ottoman, ^osl"
may (by the grace of Christ) be the last ; whom we heard credibly to
be reported, at the printing hereof,2 to be dead. But, howsoever
this prophecy is to be taken, it appeared] by their own oracles, that at
length they shall be overcome by the Christians.
A Table describing the times and years of the Saracens, Turks, and
Tartarians, for the better explaining of the Story above prefixed.
A. D. 632. The kingdom of the Saracens or Arabians, began after the death Saracens
of Mahomet, the first ringleader of the mischief; which Saracens, reigning in bcei»-
(1) By the prince of the Gentiles, the Turks do here mean the kingdoms and dominions of the
Christians, whom they call Gentiles, because they are not circumcised after their manner.
(2) Solyman died in 1566. The Second Edition of the Acts and Monuments was printed in
London in 1570, at which period the above report of Solyman'l deatu arrived.— Ed.
118 THE HISTOKY 01< TIIK TUItKS.
Propha*. Babylon over Persia and Asia, continued abovit one hundred and ninety-eight
A. D. GG7. Jerusalem was taken by the Saracens. These Saracens, after
they had subdued Ormisda king of Persia, set up to themselves a new king-
dom, calling tbeir chief prince Caliph, which signifieth a general lord ; and
under him Seriphes, that is an under prince ; and again, under him their Soldan,
w'uo is a ruler or captain ; under which soldans all the provinces were divided.
And thus ruled they the space above said, of one hundred and ninety-eight
years.
A. D. 703. The Egyptians being weary of their subjection under the Ro-
Egyptian mans, called for help of the Saracen caliph ; and so, casting off the Romans,
Saracens, submitted themselves to the law of the Saracens, and had also their caliph,
o*Snl- iin(] (heir Babylon called Cairo, where their caliphs continued unto Saraco or
Syracinus, four hundred and forty-seven years.
A. D. 810. Mauginet, or Muchumet, the chief sultan of Persia, being at
cent' arV variance with Imbraell, the sultan of Babylon, sent for the aid of the Turks out
1 of Scythia ; by whom when he had got the victory against the Babylonians,
ceaaeth. ^ ^ Turks sjlortiy after conquered the Persians, and subdued their country
within the space of twenty years.
A. D. 830. The Saracens, being expidsed out of Asia by the Turks, wan-
dered about Africa, Spain, and Italy, and were in divers places dispersed, and
so remain.
A. D. 830. The Turks, after they had expulsed the Saracens out of Asia,
Turk's began to reign in Asia, in Persia, and in Arabia; and there reigned without
kingdom interruption, till the coming of the Tartarians, the space of one hundred and
neth!" ninety-two years.
A. D. 1009. The Turks won the city of "Jerusalem from the Saracens; which
city the sultan of Egypt won again from the Turks shortly after, and possessed
the same till the coming of Godfred.
A. 1). 1051. The first king of the Turks, called Zaduke, began to reign in
Asia, and joined league with the caliph of Egypt, and there reigned till the
conquest of Godfred and the Christians the space of forty-six years.
A. D. 1078. Solyman, nephew to Aspasalcm, the Turkish king in Asia,
otherwise called Tarquinia, subdued Cappadocia, which hath continued now,
, the space of live hundred years.
A. J). 1099. Godfred Bulion, duke of Lotharing, a christian prince, taking
his viage into Asia with seven hundred thousand christian soldiers, first got
the city of Nice against the sultan of the Turks; then Lycaonia, Silicia, Syria;
afterwards Mesopotamia, and Comagena : then Antioch, a. d. 1098, and the
next year recovered Jerusalem, being then in the hands of the Saracens, which
they, a little before, had won from the Turks, as is aforesaid. After this
Godfred. succeeded eight christian kings, who kept the kingdom of Jerusa-
lem and Asia, both from the Turks and Saracens, the space of eighty-eight
years.
A. I). 1 100. The Georgians, who be a people of Armenia the greater, van-
quished tlie Turks out of the kingdom of Persia, after they had cut their king
in pieces: whereby the Turks, Hying to Cappadocia, there remained under So-
lyman, and joined themselves to the soldan of Egypt, and waxed then strong in
Asia .Minor, called HOW Turquinia.
A. 1). 1170. When Almeric, the seventh king of Jerusalem after Godfred
had overcome the caliph, or sultan of Egypt, the sultan being overcome, called
for the help of Saraeon, the sultan of Syria. This Saraeon, after he had expulsed
the Christians out of Egypt, turned his power against the sultan of Egypt, and
vanquishing him, took to himself the kingdom of Egypt: which kingdom he
with his posterity did hold till the coming of the Tartarians and the Mamalukes
ahniit the Bpace of eighty-eight years.
A. 1). 1 187. Saladine, the nephew of Saraeon the sultan of Egypt, perceiv-
ing the dissension among the christian states of Palestine, got Antioch, where
I lew Raymuud the prince with his own hands : then he got Tiberias. From
tie nee he weui In Acre, where be took Guido king of Jerusalem, and the master
of the Templars, prisoners; for whose ransom the Turk had Ascalon yielded
up to liim by the Christians. That done, he subdued Jerusalem, which had
bei n in tin- hands of the Christians before, the space of eighty-eight years.
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 119
A. D. 1189. Frederic the emperor, Philip the French king, and Richard Prophec,,.
king of England, made their viage into Asia, where Frederic, washing in a
river in Cilicia, died. In this viage, at the siege of Acre, Saladine won the
field of our men, of whom two thousand were slain in ihe chase. Achre at
length was got hy the Christians. King Richard got Cyprus. The two kings
fell at strife. Philip retired home without any good doing. King Richard laid
siege to Jerusalem, hut in vain, and so returning homeward, was taken near to
Vienna in Austria, after he had taken truce before with the soldan, upon such
condition as pleased him. And this good speed, had the pope's sending out
against the Turks.
A. D. 1215. There was another council holden at Rome by pope Innocent Transub
III., where was enacted a new article of our faith, for transubstantiation of stantia-
bread and wine, to be turned into the body and blood of our Saviour. In this
council also great excitation was made by the pope, and great preparation was
through all Christendom, to set forward for recovery of the Holy Land. A
mighty army was collected of dukes, lords, knights, bishops, and prelates, that,
if God's blessing bad gone with them, they might have gone throughout all
Asia and India.
A. D. 1219. The Christians after eighteen months' siege, got a certain town
in Egypt, called Damietta, or Elipolis, with much ado, hut not much to the pur-
pose. For afterwards, as the christian army of the pope's sending went about
to besiege the city of Cairo, or Babylon, the sultan, through his subtle train, so
entrapped and inclosed them within the danger of the Nile, that they were
constrained to render again the city of Damietta, with their prisoners, and all
the furniture thereof as they found it, into the soldan 's hand; and glad so with
their lives to pass forward to Tyre. A. D. 1221.
In the mean time the Egyptian Turk caused the city of Jerusalem to be
rased, that it should serve for no use to the Christians. What great thing
else was done in that viage, it doth not greatly appear in stories. Albeit
Frederic II., emperor, was not unfruitfully there occupied; and much more
-night have done, had it not been for the violence and persecution of the bishop
of Rome against him ; whereby he was enforced to take truce with the sultan
for ten years, and so returned. After which things done, not many years after,
at length the last city of all belonging to the Christians, which was Ptolomais,
or Acre, was also taken from them by the sultan, so that now the Christians
had not one foot left in all Asia.
A. D. 1230. Thus the Christians being driven out of Asia by the sultans
and Turks, yet the said Turks and sultans did not long enjoy their victory.
For eftsoons the Lord stirred up against them the Tartarians, who, breaking into Tartari-
Asia by the ports of Caspius, subdued divers parts of Asia, namely about Co- a»s.
mana, Colchis, Iberia, Albania, &c. These Tartarians, as they had got many
captives in their wars, so for gain they used to ship them over customably to
Alexandria in Egypt, to be sold; which servants and captives Melechsala, the
great sultan, was glad to buy, to serve him in his wars. Which captives and
"servants after they had continued a certain space in Egypt, and through their
valiant service grew in favour and estimation with the said Melechsala, and
began more to increase in number and strength ; at length they slew him, and Satadinrt
took to themselves the name and kingdom of the sultan. And thus ceased the £^m
stock of Saracon and Saladine aforementioned, which continued in Egypt about ceaseth.
the space, as is said, of one hundred years.
A. D. 1240. After the "death of Melechsala, the army of these aforesaid
rascals and captives set up to themselves a king of their own company, whom
they called Turquemenius : who, to fdl up the number of their company, that
it should not diminish, devised this order, to get or to buy christian men's
children, taken young from their parents, and the mother's lap; whom they
used so to bring up, as to make them to deny Christ, and to be circumcised,
and instructed in Mahomet's law, and afterwards to be trained in the feats of
war; and these were called Mainalukes : among whom this was their order, Mama-
that none might be advanced to be king but out "of their own number, or else |?^?"in
chosen by them ; neither that any should be made knights or horsemen, but " v '
only the children of Christians who should deny Christ before, called Mama-
lukcs. Also it was among them provided, that to this dignity neither Saracens
nor Jews should be admitted. Item, that the succession thereof should m.
I . I TIIK HISTOKY OF THE TURKS.
Prophecy descend to the children and offspring of these Mamalukes. Also that the suc-
__1 cession of the crown should not descend to the children of the aforesaid sultans,
but should go by voice and election.
'flu- Tartarian* with Turquemenius their king, about this time obtained Tur-
quia, that is, Asia Minor, from the Turks, and within two years after, prevail-
ing against the Turks, expelled them from their kingdom ; and so continued
these Mamalukes reigning over Egypt, and a great part of Asia, till the time of
Tomumbeiua their last king, who was destroyed and hanged at the gates of
Memphis, by Selim the Turk, father to this Solyman, as in his history is
declared. These Mamalukes continued the space of two hundred and sixty
years.
A. D. 1245. These Tartarians, ranging through the countries of the Geor-
gians, and all Armenia, came as far as Iconium, which was then the imperial
city of the Turks.
A. D. 1289. The soldan of Egypt and Babylon got from the Christians
Trtpolis, Tyre, Sidon, and Berithus in Syria.
A. D. 1291. Lastly, Ptolomais, which also is called Acre, was surprised by the
said soldan, rased, and cast down to the ground, and all the Christians therein
(who were not many left) were slain. And this was the last city which the
Christiana had in Asia; so that now the Christians have not one foot (as is said
before) left in all Asia. Thus the Egyptian soldans, and the Tartarians, reigned
and ranged over the most part of Asia above the Turks, till the reign of Otto-
man the great Turk, about the space of eighty years.
And thus have ye the whole discourse of the Turkish story, with
their names, countries, towns, dominions ; also with their times, con-
tinuance, interruptions, and alterations, in order described, and in
years distinguished : which, otherwise, in most authors and writers be
so confused, that it is hard to know distinctly, what difference is be-
tween the Saracens, Turks, Tartarians, the Sultans or Soldans, Mama-
lukes, or Janizaries ; what is their Caliph, their Seriphes, their Sultan,
or Bassa ; in what times they began, and how long, and in what order
of years they reigned. All which, in this present Table, manifestly to
thine eve may appear.
why the Wherein this thou hast moreover, gentle reader! to consider (which
nX>ru-" 's worthy the noting), how the bishop of Rome all this season, from
vail the first beginning of the Turk's reign, hath not ceased from time to
tbe time continually, calling upon christian princes and subjects to take
lurks, the cross, and to war against the Turks ; whereupon so many great
viages have been made to the Holy Land, and so many battles fought
against the Turk and Soldan for winning the holy cross ; and yet no
lucky success hath followed thereof hitherto, nor ever came it pro-
sperously forward, whatsoever through the exciting of that bishop hath
been attempted against that great enemy of the Lord : insomuch that
the Christians have lost not only all that they had in Asia, but also
are scarce able to defend that little they have in Europe against his
violence. What the cause is of this hard luck of the bishop's doings,
it is hard for man to define. Let men muse as their mind leadeth,
and as the gospel saith, " He that hath eyes to see, let him see."
This is certain, that as there hath lacked no care nor diligence in the
bishop of Rome, to stir men up to that business; so on the princes"'
behalf, there hath lacked no courage nor strength of men, no contri-
bution of expenses, no supportation of charges, no furniture or habili-
ment of war; only the blessing of God seemeth to have lacked! The
reason and cause whereof I would it were as easy to be reformed, as
it may be quickly construed. For what man, beholding the life of
THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. 121
us Christians, will greatly marvel, why the Lord goeth not with our Prophecy.
army to fight against the Turks ! And if my verdict might here ~~
have place, for me to add my censure, there appeareth to me another
cause in this matter, yet greater than this aforesaid : which, to make
plain and evident, in full discourse of words, leisure now doth not
permit. Briefly to touch what I conceive, my opinion is this, that if
the sincere doctrine of christian faith, delivered and left unto us in
the word of God, had not been so corrupted in the church of Rome ;
or, if the bishop of Rome would yet reclaim his impure idolatry and God <>r-
profanations, and admit Christ the Lamb of God to stand alone, with- w,"hed
out our impure additions, to be our only justification, according to ^°^Uy
the free promise of God's grace ; I nothing doubt, but the power of wrong
this faith, grounding only upon Christ the Son of God, had both theChiii-
framed our lives into a better disposition, and also soon would, or yet tians-
will, bring down the pride of that proud Holofernes. But otherwise,
if the bishop of Rome will not gently give place to the mild voice of
God's word, I think not contrary, but he shall be compelled at last
to give place and room to the Turk, whether he will or not. And
yet notwithstanding, when both the Turk and the pope shall do
against it what they can, the truth and grace of God's testament shall
fructify and increase by such means as the Lord shall work, which be-
ginneth already (praise to the Lord) to come graciously and luckily
forward, as in most places.
A Prayer against the Turks.
O eternal Lord God ! Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ; Creator and disposer
of all things ; just, gracious, and wise only ; in the name and reverence of thy
Son Jesus, we prostrate ourselves, desiring thine Omnipotent Majesty to look
down upon these afflicted times of thy poor creatures and servants : relieve thy
church, increase our faith, and confound our enemies : and as thou hast given
thine only-begotten Son unto us, promising with him life to all that shall believe Gal. iv. 7.
upon his name, so incline the obedience of our faith to thy promises in him,
that our hearts may be far off from all other sinful additions and profane inven-
tions, which are beside him, and not in him, grounded upon thy will and
promise. And grant, we beseech thee, to thy church, more and more to see
how terrible a thing it is, to set up any other means or help of salvation, but
only in him whom thou only hast sent and sealed. Reform thy church with
perfect doctrine and faithful teachers, that we, seeing our own weakness, may
put off ourselves, and put on him, without whom we can do nothing. So shall
we stand strong, when nothing standeth in us, but thy Son alone, in whom thou
art only pleased. Renew in this thy church again the decayed faith of thy
Son Jesus, which may plentifully bring forth in us, not leaves only, but fruits
of christian life ; and forgive our wretched idolatry, and blind fantasies past,
wherewith we have provoked manifold ways thy deserved indignation against Wisd.v.6.
us. For our hearts have been full of idols, our temples full of images, our ways
full of hypocrisy : thy sacraments profaned, and thy religion turned to super-
stition : because the lantern of thy word went not before us, therefore we have Psa.cxix.
stumbled. Miserably we have walked hitherto, like sons, not of Sarah, but of los-
Hagar, and therefore these Turkish Hagarenes have risen up against us. Many
hard and strait ways we have passed, but the ways of the Lord we have not
found. Much cost we have bestowed on bread that assuageth no hunger, but that
bread which only feedeth and cometh freely we have not tasted. We have Isa. Iv. 2.
sailed far and near in barks of our own building, but have not kept within the
ark only of thy promise; and therefore these floods have taken us. We have Gen.vi.14.
prayed much, but not in thine appointed temple ; and therefore we have not Jud. jrfv
been heard. We have ploughed and tilled, bill without thy heifer; and there- llS"
fore this untidy ground of ours bringeth forth so many weeds. We do fish J° 1XI'
122 ENGLISH HISTORY RESUMED.
n.ury apace and that all night, but because we fish not on the right side of the boat,
;// in our fishing we catch never a fin. Our buildings be full of good intentions
„ and great devotions, but because the groundwork is not surely laid upon the
..' rock of thy promise [Luke vi. 48], the east wind riseth and shaketh them all
to shivers. We walk, and have walked along, after the precepts and doctrines
, .!' . of men haying a show of wisdom, but not as holding the head [Colos. i. 19],
,J '' where lieth all our strength ; and therefore these Philistine Turks have hitherto
so prevailed against us. Briefly, all the parts and bones of the body be shaken
out of place. Wherefore, we beseech thee, O Lord, put to thy holy hand, and
set them in the right joint again : and finally, reduce this same thy mystical
body again to its perfect and natural head, which is thine only Son Jesus Christ,
and none other: for him only hast thou anointed and appointed; neither is
there any other head, that can minister strength and nutriment to this body,
but he alone ; forasmuch as all other heads be sinful, and are not able to stand
in thy sight, but make this body rather worse than better. Only this thy
well-beloved and perfect Son is he, in whom only dwelleth all our strength and
fulness; him only we confess and acknowledge; for whom and with whom, we
beseech thee, O Lord God of hosts, grant to thy church strength and victory
against the malicious fury of these Tm-ks, Sai'acens, Tartarians, against Gog and
Magog, and all the malignant rabble of Antichrist, enemies to thy Son Jesus,
our Lord and Saviour. Prevent their devices, overthrow their power, and dis-
solve their kingdom, that the kingdom of thy Son so long oppressed, may recover
and flourish over all ; and that they who wretchedly be fallen from thee, may
happily be reduced again into the fold of thy salvation, through Jesus Christ,
our only Mediator and most merciful Advocate. Amen.
Tn this long digression, wherein sufficiently hath been described the
grievous and tedious persecution of the Saracens and Turks against
tin- Christians, thou hast to understand, good reader ! and behold, the
bnage of a terrible Antichrist, evidently appearing both by his own
(bungs, and also by the Scriptures, prophesied and declared to us before.
Now, in comparing the Turk with the pope, if a question be asked,
whether of them is the truer or greater Antichrist, it were easy to see
ami judge, that the Turk is the more open and manifest enemy against
Christ and his church. But, if it be asked whether of them two hath
been the more bloody and pernicious adversary to Christ and his mem-
bers ; or whether of them hath consumed and spilt more christian
liliHid, lie with sword, or this with fire and sword together, neither is
it a light matter to discern, neither is it my part here to discuss, who
do only write the history, and the acts of them both. Wherefore,
after the story of the Turks thus finished, now to re-enter again there,
where we lei't off, in describing the domestical troubles and persecutions
here at home under the bishop of Rome ; after the burning of Bahrain
in Norfolk above declared.
Troubles I signified also of another certain aged man, mentioned in an old
!a,ni."R written chronicle borrowed of one in the Tower, entitled ■Polychroni-
con,1 (although I find not his name in the said chronicle expressed,)
who suffered the pains of burning in Smithfield, about the same time,
which was a. o. 1500. This aged father, I. suppose, is he of whom
1 find mention made in certain old papers and records of William
Can, citizen (albeit the day of the month doth a little differ), wherein
is thus testified, that on the 20th day of July, \. n. 1500, upon the
day of St. Margaret, there was an old man burned in Smithfield for
a heretic ; and the same person, on (lie 10th day, before he was burnt,
would have stolen out of the Lollards1 tower, and so falling out of the
CERTAIN GODLY MEN BEARING FAGGOTS 123
tower, did foully imrt himself ; whereupon be was earned in a cart to #«■»»
his death, as he went to his burning. VIL
In the aforesaid papers of ancient record, is furthermore declared, A.D.
how, in the year above prefixed, which was a.d. 1499, in the time of l5°0
one Pcrsevel, many were taken for heretics in Kent, and at Paul's *"
cross they bear the faggots and were abjured; and shortly after, the — - — -
same year, there went thirteen Lollards afore the procession in Paul's ; Kemish
and there were of them eight women and a young lad, and the lad's ™nfbear~
mother was one of the eight, and all the thirteen bear &ggotS on their sots.
necks afore the procession.
BDilliam Cnlstoortf), jaactnr, burned at %mctfyam.
Forasmuch as the world is come now to such a morosity and peevish
insensibility in these contentious and cavilling days of ours, that
nothing can be so circumspectly written and storied, but shall lie in
danger of one sycophant or another, who never will credit there, where
they list not to like ; neither will they ever like that which seemeth
prejudicial to their faction, or not to serve the humour wherewith
their fantasies be infected : therefore, to stop the mouths of such
carping cavillers with as much possibility as I may, be it known to all
and singular such persons, who, by evidence of truth and Avitness, will
be satisfied, that in the town of Amersham be yet alive both men and
women, who can and do bear witness of this that I shall declare. Also
there is of the said company, one named William Page, an aged father
and yet alive, witness to the same. Also another, named Agnes
Wetherly, widow, being about the age of a hundred years, yet living
and witness hereof; that in the days of king Henry VII. a. d. 1506,
in Buckinghamshire, in the diocese of Lincoln (William Smith being
bishop of the same diocese), one William Tylsworth was burned in
Amersham, in a close called Stanley, about sixty years ago : at which
time one Joan Clerk, being a married woman, who was the only Tho
daughter of the said William Tylsworth, and a faithful woman, was ^gen«i
compelled with her own hands to set fire to her dear father; and at to set he
the same time her husband John Clerk did penance at her father's iatiur.
burning, and bare a faggot ; as did also these :
Robert Bartlet. John Milsent, and his William Grinder.
Richard Bartlet. wife. Thomas Homes.
John Bartlet. William White. Yoniand Dorman.
Thomas Harding, and John Mumbc, and his William Scrivener.
his wife. wife. John Scrivener.
Henry Harding. Richard Bennet. Thomas Chase.
Richard Harding. Roger Bennet. John Cracher.
Robert Harding. John Fip.
All these bare faggots, and afterwards were compelled to wear ecr- Amer-
tain badges, and went abroad to certain towns to do penance; as to Sen"
Buckingham, Avleshury, and other towns besides. And also divers ^'^"f
of these men were afterwards burned in the cheek, as William Page,
who at this present is alive, and likewise did bear a faggot with the
aforesaid. Furthermore, the aforesaid Amies Wetherly testifieth,
that at the burning of this "William Tylsworth, were sixty and above,
that were put to bear (kggots for their penance; of whom divers wen
martyr.
124 THE CRUEL HANDLING OF THOMAS CHASE OF AMERSHAM
iienry enjoined to bear and wear faggots, at Lincoln, the space of seven years*
V1L somc at one time, some at another, &c. In which number was also
A. D. one Robert Bartlct, a rich man, who, for his profession's sake, was put
1500 0U£ 0f jjjs farm an(J goods, and was condemned to be kept in the mo-
-'",. nastery of Ashridge, where he wore on his right sleeve a square piece
— of cloth, the space of seven years together.
It followeth, moreover, in the testimony of the aforenamed, that
about the same time of the burning of William Tylsworth (as
the Amersham men do say), or the next day after (as iecordeth
Father the aforesaid Agnes) was one father Roberts burned at Bucking-
Roberta, }iam# He was a miller, and dwelled at Missenden ; and at his burn-
ing there were above twenty persons, that were compelled to bear
faggots, and to do such penance as the wicked Pharisees did compel
them. After that, by the space of two or three years, were burned at
Amersham, Thomas Barnard, a husbandman, and James Mordon, a
labourer ; they two were burned both at one fire, and there was Wil-
liam Littlcpage, who is yet alive, compelled to be burned in the right
Father cheek, and father Rogers, and father Rever, alias Reive, who after
was burned. This father Rogers was in the bishop's prison fourteen
weeks together, night and day, where he was so cruelly handled with
cold, hunger, and irons, that after his coming out of the said prison,
he was so lame in his back, that he could never go upright as long as
he lived; as can testify divers honest men that be now living. Also
Men of there were thirty more burned in the right cheek, and who bare faggots
at the same time. The cause was, that they would talk against super-
stition and idolatry, and were desirous to hear and read the holy
for God's" Scriptures. The manner of their burning in the cheek was this:
word- their necks were tied fast to a post or stay, with towels, and their
hands holden fast that they might not stir; and so the iron, being
hot, was put to their cheeks : and thus bear they the prints and marks
of the Lord Jesus about them.
Cfje cruel ijantting of Chomfli* «£ha£e of 5tmet^am,
WICKEDLY STRANGLED AND MARTYRED IN THE BISHOp's PRISON
AT WOBURN, UNDER WILLIAM SMITH, BISHOP OF LINCOLN.
Among these aforesaid, who were so cruelly persecuted fur the
gospel and word of Christ, one Thomas Chase of Amersham was one
of them that was thus cruelly handled : which Thomas Chase by the
report of such as did know him, was a man of a godly, sober, and
honest behaviour (whose virtuous doings do yet remain in memory),
and who could not abide idolatry and superstition, but many times
would speak against it. Wherefore the ungodly and wicked did the
more hate and despise him, and took him and brought him before the
rXfthe ,'1""1 ^hop, being at that time at Woburn, in the county of Buck-
ingham, ami, as it is written in Acts xii., that wicked Herod did vex
certain of the congregation, and killed James the brother of John
with the sword ; and because he saw that it pleased the Jews, &c, he
proceeded further, and had this same Thomas Chase before him,
asking him many questions touching the Romish religion, with many
taunts, clucks, and rebukes ; but what answer this godly man, Thomas
Rei
marty
Amer
sham
burnt in
the cheek
GOD REVEAI.ETH THE SECRET MURDERS OF THE PAPISTS. 125
Chase, made them, it is unknown. Howbcit it is to be supposed nam
that his answer was most zealous and godly in professing Christ's
true religion and gospel, and to the extirpation of idolatry, and super- AD-
stition, and hypocrisy, for the said Thomas Chase was commanded to 1,50°
be put in the bishop's prison, called 'Little Ease,1 in the bishop's "
house at Woburn ; which prison had not been ministered unto him, — - — -
had not his answers been sound and upright. There Thomas Chase jj°m"ne(l
lay bound most painfully with chains, gyves, manacles, and irons, ".' ""' ..
oftentimes sore pined with hunger, where the bishop's alms were prison8
daily brought unto him by his chaplains ; which alms were nothing ™uuL
else but checks, taunts, rebukes and thrcatenings, floutings and mock- Ease-'
ings. All which cruelty the godly martyr took most quietly and atasofa
patiently, remembering and having respect to Christ's promises bish°i>-
[Matt, vii.] : " Blessed are they which suffer persecution for right- pati
IVrttvt
Blessed are ye when men revile you and persecute you ;" &c. Chase-
When the bishop, with his band of shavelings, perceived that by their
daily practices of cruelty they could not prevail against him, but
rather that he was the more fervent and earnest in professing Christ's
true religion, and that he did tolerate and bear most patiently all
their wickedness and cruelty ministered unto him, they imagined
how and which way they might put him to death, lest there should
be a tumult or an uproar among the people. And as Richard Hun
shortly after was hanged or strangled in Lollard's tower, about
a. d. 1511, even so these blood-suppers most cruelly strangled and chase
pressed to death this said Thomas Chase in prison, who most heartily murdJre.i
called upon God to receive his spirit ; as witnesseth a certain woman in frison-
that kept him in prison.
After these stinging vipers, being of the wicked brood of Anti-
christ, had thus most cruelly and impiously murdered this faithful
Christian, they were at their wits' end, and could not tell what shift
to make, to cloke their shameful murder withal : at last to blind the
ignorant silly people, these bloody butchers most slanderously caused
it by their ministers to be bruited abroad, that the aforesaid Thomas Falsely
Chase had hanged himself in prison ; which was a most shameful }l™ang'1
and abominable lie, for the prison wras such, that a man could not himself,
stand upright, nor lie at ease, but stooping, as they do report that
did know it. And besides that, this man had so many manacles and
irons upon him, that he could not well move either hand or foot, as
the women did declare that saw him dead ; insomuch that they con-
fessed that his blood-bulk was broken, by reason they had so vilely
beaten him and bruised him. And yet these holy Catholics had not
made an end of their wicked act in this both killing and slandering
of this godly martyr; but, to put out the remembrance of him,
they caused him to be buried in the wood called Norland Wood, in
the highway betwixt Woburn and Little Marlow, to the intent he
should not be taken up again to be seen : and thus commonly are
innocent men laid up, by these clerkly clergymen. But He that is Go<i
effectually true of himself hath promised, at one time or at another {^jS*
to clear his true servants, not with lies and fables, but by his own thewcret
true word. "No secret," saith He, "is so close, but once shall be of the pa-
opened; neither is any thing so hid, that shall not at the last be pis,s'
] g6 THOMAS XORIS AND OTHERS, MARTYRED.
iienry known dearly."1 Such a sweet Lord is God always to those that are
vlL his true servants. Blessed be his holy name, therefore, for ever and
A. D. ever, Amen !
1500 Thomas Hardin.? being one of this company thus molested and
r?r troubled, as is aforesaid, in the town of Amersham, for the truth of
''■ the gospel, after his abjuration and penance done, was again sought
for, and brought to the fire, in the days of king Henry VIII., and
under Dr. Longland then bishop of Lincoln, succeeding after cardinal
Wolscv ; of whose death and martyrdom we shall likewise record
(Christ willing and granting) in order, when we shall come to the
time and year of his suffering.
Thomas After the martyrdom of these two, I read also of one Thomas
martyr. Noris, who likewise, for the same cause, that is, for the profession of
Christ's gospel, was condemned by the bishop, and burnt at Norwich,
a.d.1507. the last day of March, a. d. 1507.
Elizabeth In the next year following, which was a.d. 1508, in the consistory
Sampson. ^ j^^fo^ was collvented Elizabeth Sampson, of the parish of
Aldermanbury, upon certain articles, and especially for speaking
against pilgrimage and adoration of images ; as the image of our lady
at Wilsdon, at Staines, at Crome, at Walsingham, and the image of
St. Saviour of Bermondsey ; and against the sacrament of the altar,
and for that she had spoken these* or like words : That our lady of
Wilsdon was but a burnt tailed elf, and a burnt tailed stock ; and if
she might have holpen men and women who go to her on pilgrimage,
she would not have suffered her tail to have been burnt : and what
should folk worship our lady of Wilsdon, or our lady of Crome ; for
the one is but a burnt tailed stock, and the other is but a puppet :
and 1 letter it were for the people to give their alms at home to
poor people, than to go on pilgrimage. Also she called the image
of St.. Saviour, ' Sim Saviour with kit lips ;1 and that she said she could
make as good bread, as that which the priest occupied ; and that it
was not the body of Christ, but bread, for that Christ could not be
both in heaven and in earth at one time. For these and certain
other articles, she was compelled to abjure before Master William
Horsey, chancellor, the day and year above written.2
Laurence <£fje£t, Mattyz.
Lamentable it is to remember, and a thing almost infinite to com-
prehend, the names, times, and persons of all them that have been
slain by the rigour of the pope's clergy, for the true maintaining of
Christ's cause, and of his sacraments; whose memory being regis-
tered in the book of life, albeit it need not the commemoration of
our stories, yet for the more confirmation of the church, I thought it
not unprofitable, the suffering and martyrdom of them to be notified,
who innocently have given their blood to be shed in Christ's quarrel.
In the catalogue of whom, next in order, cometh the memorial of
Laurence Chest, who was burned in Salisbury for matter of the
;;;>;;;;;" sacrament, in the days of king Henry VII. He was of a comely
boor. ami tall person, ami otherwise (as appeareth) not unfriended; for
which the bishop and the close were the more loath to burn him, but
(1) Matt, x.; Luke xii. (2) Kx Rcgist. Loml.
a faithful woman burned. 127
kept him in prison the space of two years. This Laurence had a Henry
■wife and seven children. Wherefore they, thinking to expugn and
persuade his mind by stirring of his fatherly affection toward his A. D.
children, when the time came which they appointed for his burning, 1508.
as he was at the stake, they brought before him his wife and his
aforesaid seven children; at the sight whereof, although nature is
commonly wont to work in others, yet in him, religion overcoming
nature, made his constancy to remain immovable ; in such sort, as
when his wife began to exhort and desire him to favour himself, he
again desired her to be content, and not to be a block in his way, would
for he was in a good course, running toward the mark of his salva- P011^,
tion: and so, fire being put to him, he finished his life, renouncing w»fe »'<«
not only wife and children, but also himself, to follow Christ. As but died
he was in burning, one of the bishop's men threw a firebrand at his a man>r-
face ; whereat the brother of Laurence, standing by, ran at him with
his dagger, and would have slain him, had he not been otherwise
staid.
Testified and witnessed by the credible report of one William witness
Russel, an aged man dwelling of late in Coleman-street, who was {"{^y.
there present, the same time, at the burning of Laurence, and was
also himself burned in the cheek, and one of the persecuted flock in
those days, whose daughter is yet living. The same is confirmed
also by the testimony of one Richard Webb, servant sometime to
Master Latimer, who, sojourning in the house of the said William
Russel, heard him many times declare the same.
2C notable &torj> of a faitfjful UDoman bucneo in Cfjipptng^uDbucu.
But amongst all the examples of them, whereof so many have
suffered from time to time for Christ and his truth, I cannot tell if
ever were any martyrdom more notable and admirable, wherein the
plain demonstration of God's mighty power and judgment hath at
any time been more evident against the persecutors of his flock, than
at the burning of a certain godly woman put to death in Chipping-
Sudbury, about the same time, under the reign of king Henry VII.
The constancy of which blessed woman, as it is glorious for all
true godly Christians to behold ; so again the example of the bishop's
chancellor, who cruelly condemned the innocent, may offer a ter-
rible spectacle to the eyes of all papistical persecutors to consider,
and to take example; which the living God grant they may. Amen.
The name of the town where she was martyred, was, as is said,
Chipping-Sudbury ; the name of the woman is not as yet come to
my knowledge; the name of the chancellor, who condemned her, ciiancei-
was called doctor Whittington ; the time of her burning was in the J;',^,1;'!,"
reign and time of king Henry VII., orderly therefore in this place i>"secu-
and time, to be inserted. Wherein is to be Doted moreover the
opportunity of this present history brought to my hands, and that in
such convenient season, as 1 was drawing toward the end of the
aforesaid king's reign, so that it may appear to thus.- who behold
the opportunity of things, not to be without God's holy will and
providence, that this aforesaid example should not lie hid and un-
rcmembcred, but should come to light and knowledge ; and that
]gg DR. WHITTINGTON SLAIN BY A BULL.
Henry in such order of placing, according as the due course of our story,
rIL hitherto kept, rcquireth.
A. D. After this o-odly woman and manly martyr of Christ was condemned
1508. DV t])e wretched chancellor above named, doctor Whittington, for the
~~ faithful profession of the truth, which the papists then called heresy,
and the time being now come when she should be brought to the
place and pains of her martyrdom, a great concourse of all the multi-
tude, both in the town and country about (as the manner is at such
times), was gathered to behold her end. Among whom was also the
aforesaid doctor Whittington, the chancellor, there present to see the
a faithful execution done. Thus this faithful woman, and true servant of God,
ggESf constantly persisting in the testimony of the truth, committing her
burned, cause to the Lord, gave over her life to the fire, refusing no pains nor
torments to keep her conscience clear and unreprovable in the day of
the Lord. The sacrifice being ended, the people began to return
homeward, coming from the burning of this blessed martyr. It hap-
pened in the mean time, that as the catholic executioners were busy
compari- in slaying this silly lamb at the town's side, a certain butcher was as
between busy within the town, slaying a bull ; which bull he had fast bound
and the"' m r'°Pes> ready to knock him on the head. But the butcher (belike
pope's"" not so skilful in his art of killing beasts, as the papists be in murder-
in^mini- fog Christians), as he was lifting his axe to strike the bull, failed in
sters- his stroke, and smote a little too low, or else how he smote, I know
not : this is certain, that the bull, although somewhat grieved at
the stroke, but yet not stricken down, put his strength to the ropes,
and brake loose from the butcher into the street, the very same time
as the people were coming in great press from the burning. Who,
seeing the bull coming towards them, and supposing him to be wild
(as it was no other like), gave way for the beast, every man shifting
for himself as well as he might. Thus the people giving back, and
a rare making a lane for the bull, he passed through the throng of them,
;!,"'i' exC touching neither man nor child, till he came where the chancellor
amRlc °f was : against whom the bull, as pricked with a sudden vehemency,
pumsh- ran full butt with his horns ; and taking him upon the paunch, gored
God upon him through and through ; and so killed him immediately : carrying
t^kta1" his guts, and trailing them with his horns, all the street over, to the
i,\ a imii. great admiration and wonder of all them that saw it.
Although the carnal sense of man be blind in considering the
works of the Lord, imputing, many times, to blind chance the things
which properly pertain to God's only praise and providence ; yet in
this so strange and so evident example, what man can be so dull or
ignorant, which sceth not herein a plain miracle of God's mighty
power and judgment, both in the punishing of this wretched chan-
cellor, and also in admonishing all other like persecutors, by his
example, to fear the Lord, and to abstain from the like cruelty ?
Now, for the credit of this story, lest I be said upon mine own
head to commit to story things rashly, which I cannot justify, there-
fore, to stop such cavilling mouths, I will discharge myself with
witness authority, I trust, sufficient, that is, with the witness of him who both
btory6 w;i* a papist, and also present at the same time at the burning of the
woman, whose name was Rowland Webb : which Rowland, dwelling
then in Chipping-Sudbury, had a son named Richard Webb, servant
VERSES TOUCHING THE SAME; 129
sometime to master Latimer, who also, enduring with him in time of n**ri
his trouble six years together, was himself imprisoned and persecuted .
for the same cause: unto which Richard Webb, being now aged, A.D.
then young, the aforesaid Rowland, his lather, to the intent to exhort J^^L
him from the sect of heresy (as he then called it), recited to him
many times the burning of this woman, and withal added the story
of the bull aforesaid, which he himself did see and testify. This
Richard Webb is yet living, a witness of his own father's words and
testimony, which I trust may satisfy all indifferent readers, except
only such as think no truth to be believed, but that only which is in
their portues.
Verses touching the same, by Thomas Hatcher.
" Mira legis, quicunque legis, portenta nefandi
Exitus, ut poenas addita poena luat.
Vera legis, Domini cuicunque potentia nota est,
Ut delinquentes ira severa premat.
Saepe fit ut fusus cumuletur sanguine sanguis,
Saepe fit ut pcenis obruat ira novis.
Omnia sunt Domini dextrse subjecta potenti,
Qui ciet arbritrio bruta, hominesque suo.
Carnificis taurus, luctando corniger ictus
Evitans, fracto fune repente fugit.
Forte viam qua turba frequens confluxerat ante,
Fceminea ut cernat membra perire rogo,
Taurus iit, fertur qua confertissima turba ;
Lsesus at ex tanta solus et unus erat.
Solus et unus erat, rapidos qui misit in ignes,
Et misere parvum sparsit ovile Dei.
Et quasi consulto ferretur, prasterit omnes,
Comibus hunc tollit, proterit bunc pedibus,
Ille jacet, madido fcedatur sanguine corpus,
Eruta perque vias viscera sparsa jacent,
Quis non a Domino, nutu qui temperat orbeni,
Cogitet hrec fieri, non repetendo tremat 1
Ultio tembiles comitatur justa procellas,
Sera licet, certis passibus ilia venit."
And thus much concerning the state of the church ; wherein is to
be understood, what storms and persecutions have been raised up in
all quarters against the flock and congregation of Christ, not only by
the Turks, but also at home, within ourselves, by the bishop of Rome
and his retinue. Where also is to be noted, in the days and reign
of this king Henry VII., how mightily the working of God's gospel
hath multiplied and increased, and what great numbers of men and
women have suffered for the same with us in England, as by these
stories above past may be apparent.
Now these things declared, which to the church matters be appcr- The state
taining, consequently it remaincth something to treat of the state, ^,jj£aa.
likewise, of the commonwealth, which commonly doth follow the state Wi,h
of the church. Where the church is quietly and moderately governed, iy foiiow-
and the flock of Christ defended by godly princes in peace and safety, siM'tJ1.'.!-
from devouring and violence of bloody wolves ; the success of civil t^ach
estate, for the most part, there doth flourish, and the princes long
continue, through God's preservation, in prosperous rest and tran-
VOL. VI. k
1 3() A PROPHECY CF SAVANAROLA.
Hmmt quillity. Contrariwise, where either the church of Christ through the
'"■ _ negligence of princes, or the poor members of Christ, through their
A.D. setting on, be persecuted and devoured, shortly after ensueth some
1''<>S- just recompense of the Lord upon those princes, that either their lives
nuty of Jo not long continue, or else they find not that quiet in the common-
§$rod !" wealth, which they look for. Examples hereof, as in all other ages be
''riorum abundant, so-in this present time be not lacking, whether we consider
t'10 the state and condition of other countries far off, or else of our own
daughter , . i
of the country near at home.
Koine.' °f And here, not to wander in our story farther than to France only,
let us a little behold the example of king Charles VIII., who, living
in this king's time, died also not long before him. This Charles is
commended of Philip de Comines, to be a moderate, valiant, and
victorious prince, adorned with many special virtues to a prince apper-
taining. And yet the same king, because he was slack and remiss in
defence of Christ's church, neither did use his authority, nor did take
his occasion offered to him of Grod, to amend and reform the estate of
the bishop and clergy of Rome when he might, he was therefore
himself punished and cut off of the Lord, as by his story ensuing
may right well appear. For so it is of him recorded, that being mar-
vellously excited and provoked, of his own mind (contrary to the
counsel of most of his nobles) he took his journey into Italy, neither
being furnished with money, nor the season of the year being con-
venient thereunto. And that this may appear the better to proceed of
the Lord's doing, to the intent he would have the church and clergy
of Rome reformed by the prince's sword, which so vexed all Christen-
dom at that time, we shall hear Avhat is testified in the Commentaries
of the said Philip de Comines,1 writing in this wise :
Prophecy ' There was in the city of Florence, the same time, a Dominic friar, named
■rfHfe; Hieronymus Savanarola,' of whom mention was made before,2 ' a man of a right
'anaroia*. godly and approved life ; who in the said city of Florence preached and pro-
phesied long before, that the French king should come with an army into Italy,
being stirred up of God to suppress the tyrants of Italy, and none should with-
stand him. He should also come to the city of Pisa, and the state of Florence
should be altered : all which happened true. He affirmed, moreover, to be
signified to him of the Lord, that the ecclesiastical state of the church must be
redressed 'per vim armorum,' i.e. 'by the sword or force of arms.' Many
things also be prophesied of the Venetians, and of the French king, saying,
that the king with some danger and difficulty shoidd pass that journey, yet
notwithstanding should overcome it and escape, albeit his strength were never
so slender ; for God would safely conduct him in that journey, and safely bring
him home again. But because he had not done his office, in amending the
state of the church, and in defending his people from injury, and from de-
vouring, therefore it should come to pass,' saith he, ' and that shortly, that some
incommodity or detriment should happen to the king: or if he should escape
that danger of his sickness and recover health, then if he did resist the cruelty
of tliu wicked, and procure the safety of the poor and miserable, God would
show mercy unto him,' &c.
And tliis the said Hicrome declared before to Philip de Comines,
one of the king's counsellors, who was the writer of the story, and
required him to signify the same unto the king; who so did, and
be, moreover, himself coming to the presence of the king, declared
no less.
(i) Ex Commentariis Phil. Cominai. De Bello Neapolitano, lib. iii.
(I) See vol. iv. page 8.— Ed.
GODLY KINGS PROSPER WITHOUT THE POPE'S BLESSING. 131
All which things as he had forctohl, came directly to effect. For Henry
the king, being but easily accompanied, with a small power entered
into Italy; where first he came to Austi, then to Genoa, and to A.D.
Pisa, from thence proceeded to Florence, which also he obtained, 1508-
displacing there Peter dc Medici the duke, who had used great
tyranny upon the subjects. From thence he removed toward Rome,
where a great part of the city wall, at the coming of the French king,
fell down.
Afterward, when the king was entered into the city, and the pope
(who then took part with Alphonsus king of Naples against the
French king) had immured himself within the Mount of Adrian, the
wall of the castle fell down of itself; whereby when the king was
both occasioned, and exhorted also by his captains, to invade the pope,
and to depose him, and to reform the church of Rome (which he
might then easily have done, as it had pleased him) ; yet all these
occasions, offered so opportunely of God, moved not the king to do
his duty, and to help the poor church of Christ : wherefore shortly
after, returning home into France from Naples, cither the same year,
or the next year following, he was stricken with a sudden sickness at
Amboisc, as he was looking on them that played at tennis, and that
in the stinkingest place in all the castle, where he fell down and died
within twelve hours, according to the forewarning of Hieromc, who
wrote unto him a little before, both of his son's death, and of his
own, which was about a.d. 1498.1
Like examples we have many here also in this our realm of Eng-
land. So long as king John kept out of the realm the pope's autho-
rity and power, he continued safe and quiet with his nobles : but as
soon as he brought the realm under tribute and subjection to that
foreign bishop, God stirred up his nobles against him, whereby he had
much disquiet and trouble, and soon thereupon decayed.
Of all the kings of England from William the Conqueror to this Kinps of
king Henry VII., were none who either longer continued, or more £",j?i""j.;,
prosperously flourished, than king Henry II., king Henry III., king ^'^'j ,',;''
Edward I., and king Edward III. ; of whom the first, how stout he longpro-
was in withstanding Thomas Becket and pope Alexander III., is^-,?,/'
sufficiently before comprehended. to thT3
The second, who was son of king John, albeit through the wretch- bishop or
edness of that time his power was not sufficient to repulse the pope's
usurped jurisdiction out of the realm, yet his will was good : at least
he so defended and provided for his subjects, that they took no great
wrong at the pope's hands; who reigned one year longer than Au-
gustus Csesar,2 which hath not commonly been seen in any prince.
The tlu'rd, who was king Edward I., so vigilantly behaved himself
for the public commodity and safety of his people, that he defended
them from all foreign power and hostility both of the Scots (then our
enemies, now our friends), and also from the bishop of Rome, taking
part with them against us, as may appear above.3 Furthermore of
the same king, and of his worthy nobles and house of parliament,
how valiantly they stood in denial of the pope's subsidies, and also
how the said king secluded out of his protection the bishops, and
(1) Ex Philip. Cominaco. De bolln Neapolitano, lib,
(2) Augustus reigned fifty-nine years. '.■■)> En
K 2
132 DEATH OK KING HENRY VII.
Henry especially the archbishop Peckham, for standing with the pope, read
VU before.1
A. D. Now as touching king Edward III., how little he regarded, how
1509. pri;1Cely he with his nobles likewise resisted, the pope's reservations
~~ and provisions, how he bridled the archbishop John Stratford, and
rejected the vain authority of the bishop of Rome, both in defence
of his subjects, and also in defence of claiming his right title in the
realm of France, read before.2
Not that I do here affirm or define, as in a general rule, that worldly
success and prosperity of life always follow the godly, which we see
rather to be given more often to the wicked sort ; but, speaking of
Diir.r- the duty of princes, I note and observe by examples of histories, that
tCweenbe" such princes as have most defended the church of Christ committed
moderate to t]leir governance, from injury and violence of the bishop of Rome,
and those have not lacked at God's hand great blessing and felicity : whereas
per'seoT6 contrariwise, they who either themselves have been persecutors of
tors. Christ's members, or have not shielded them by their protection from
foreign tyranny and injuries, have lacked at God's hand that protec-
tion, which the others had, as may appear by king Edward II.,
Richard III., king Henry IV., king Henry V., king Henry VI., &c.,
who, because either negligently they have suffered, or cruelly caused,
such persecuting laws to be made, and so much christian blood inju-
riously to be devoured ; therefore have they been the less prospered
of the Lord, so that either they were deposed, or, if they flourished
for a while, yet they did not long continue, almost not half the time
of the other kings before named.
And therefore, as the state of the commonwealth doth commonly
follow the state of the church, as ye heard before ; so it had been to
be wished, that this king Henry VII., being otherwise a prudent and
temperate prince, had not permitted the intemperate rage of the
pope's clergy so much to have their wills over the poor flock of Christ,
as then they had ; according as by these persecutions above men-
tioned may appear. Which king Henry VII., albeit he had a suffi-
cient continuance, who had now reigned twenty-four years, yet
notwithstanding here cometh the same thing to be noted whereof I
spake before, that when the church of Christ beginneth to be injured
with violence, and to go to wrack through misorder and negligence,
the state of the commonwealth cannot there long endure without
some alteration, and stroke of God's correction. But, howsoever this
mark is to be taken, thus licth the story : that after the burning and
vexing of these poor servants of Christ above recited, when the per-
secution began now to be hot in the church, God called away the
ii' .ti, of king, the same year above mentioned, which was 1509, after he had
H.nry reigned the term of twenty-four years ; who, if he had adjoined a
V1L little more pitiful respect, in protecting Christ's poor members from
tlic lire of the pope's tyranny, to his other great virtues of singular
wisdom, excellent temperance, and moderate frugality ; so much had
be been comparable with the best of those princes above compre-
hended, as he had been inferior but to a few : but this defect, which
larked in him, was supplied most luckily (blessed be the Lord !) by
his posterity Buoceeding after him; of\vhom in the next volumes
(1) 8e« vol. ii. ),. 609.— Ed. (2) See vol. ii. p. C88.— Ed.
CERTAIN PERSONS PERSECUTED AT COVENTRY. 133
following (Christ thereunto assisting us), we have to specify more Henry
at large.
A.D.
1509.
Among many other things incident in the reign of this king Henry
VII., I have overpassed the history of certain godly persons perse- J^H*-
cuted in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, as we find them in secuted.
the registers of the diocese recorded ; here following.
In the year of our Lord 1485, March 9th, amongst divers and
sundry other good men in Coventry, these nine hereunder named,
were examined before John, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, in
St. Michael's church, upon these articles following in order :
3|ohn SMomgtone, anD eio.fjt otljeriS per^ecuteD at Cobcntc?.
First, John Blomstone was openly and publicly infamed, accused,
reported, and appeached as follows :
That he was a very heretic, because he had preached, taught, holden, and The
affirmed, that the power attributed to St. Peter in the church of God, by our P°*'er of
Saviour Jesus Christ immediately, did not flit or pass from him, to remain with mtteth
his successors. not to his
Item, That
Virgin Mary.
Item, That prayer and alms avail not the dead ; for incontinent after death, Purga-
he goeth either to heaven or hell : whereupon he concludeth there is no pur- t0.Ti. de~
gatory.
Item, That it was foolishness to go on pilgrimage to the image of our Lady of Images
Doncaster, Walsingham, or of the Tower of the city of Coventry : for a man not sl°be
might as well worship the blessed Virgin by the fire-side in the kitchen, as in Pe± P
the aforesaid places, and as well might a man worship the blessed Virgin, when
he seeth his mother or sister, as in visiting the images ; because they be no
more but dead stocks and stones.
Item, That he said in English, with a frowning countenance, as it appeared :
1 A vengeance on all such horson priests, for they have great envy that a poor
man should get his living among them.'
Richard Hegham of the same city was accused, as under :
That he was a very heretic, because he did hold that a christian man being Merits
at the point of death, should renounce all his own works good and ill, and condemn-
submit him to the mercy of God.
Item, That it was fondness to worship the images of our Lady of the
Tower, in the aforesaid city, or of other saints ; for they are but stocks and
stones.
Item, That if the image of our Lady of the Tower were put into the fire, it Against
would make a good fire. images.
Item, That it were better to deal money unto poor folks, than to offer to the
image of Christ and other saints, which are but dead stocks and stones.
Robert Crowther of the same city was accused as follows :
That he was a heretic, because he did hold, that whoso receiveth the sacra-
ment of the altar in deadly sin, or out of charity, receiveth nothing but bread
and wine.
Item, That neither bishop, nor priests, nor curates of churches, have power in
the market of penance to bind and loose.
Item, That pilgrimage to the image of our Lady of the Tower is foolishness; Pihrrim
for it is but a stock or a stone. afc'<-'
|34 CERTAIN PERSONS PERSECUTED AT COVENTRY.
*«p John Smith was accused, as under :
„ 'p]iat hc was a very heretic, because lie did hold, that every man is bound to
1 -,','.,' know the Lord's Prayer, and the Creed in English, if he might ; for all these
' Item That whoso believed as the church then did believe, believed ill : and
that a man had need to frequent the schools a good while, ere that he can attain
to the knowledge of the true and right faith.
Item, That no priest hath power to assoil a man, in the market of penance,
from lils sins.
Koo-er Brown of the same city, was also accused as follows :
I That he was a heretic, because he did hold that no man ought to worship
pilgrim- the image of our Lady of Walsingham, nor the blood of Christ at Hales, but
■**■ rather God Almighty, who would give him whatsoever he woidd ask.
Item, That he held not up his hands, nor looked up, at the elevation of the
eucharist.
Item, That he promised, one to show him certain books of heresy, if he would
swear that he would not utter them, and if he would credit them.
Flesh in Item> That he did eat flesh in Lent, and was taken with the manner.
Lent. Item, If any man were not shriven in his whole life long, and at the point of
Against death would be confessed, and could not, if he had no more but contrition only,
i ur atoiy ]1C should pass to joy without purgatory: and if he were confessed of any sin,
fessio°a" an^ were enjoined only to say for penanqe one Pater-Noster, if he thought he
auricular, should have any punishment in purgatory for that sin, he would never be con-
fessed for any sin.
Item, Because he said all is lost that is given to priests.
Item, That there was no purgatory, that God would pardon all sins without (
confession and satisfaction.
Thomas Butler of the same city was likewise openly accused to
this effect :
That he was a very heretic, because he did hold that there were but two
ways, that is to say, to heaven and to hell.
Item, That no faithful man should abide any pain after the death of Christ,
for any sin, because Christ died for our sins.
Against Item, That there was no purgatory ; for every man immediately after death
purga- passeth either to heaven or hell.
Merits Item, That whosoever departeth in the faith of Christ and the church, how-
soever he hath lived, shall be saved.
Item, That prayers and pilgrimages are nothing worth, and avail not to pur-
chase heaven.
John Falks was accused as follows :
That he was a very heretic, because he did affirm, That it was a foolish thing
to offer to the image of our Lady, saying, Her head shall be hoar ere I offer to
her: What is it but a block? If it could speak to me, I would give it an half-
penny worth of ale.
Item, That when the priest carrieth to the sick the body of Christ, why
carrieth he not also the blood of Christ?
Ili in, That he did cat cow-milk upon the first Sunday of Lent.
item, That as concerning tin- sacrament of penance and absolution, no priest
hath power to assoil any man from his sins, when he can not make one hair of
his head.
Item, That the image of our Lady was but a stone or a block.1
| i stone is a stone, and a block is a block!
PICUS, EAttL OV MIUANDULA. 1 ).",
Richard Hilman was accused, as under : 7m»
in.
That he was a very heretic, because he did say and maintain, That it was
butter to part with money to the poor, than to give tithes to priests, or to offer A. D.
to the images of our Lady ; and that it were better to offer to images made by 1509.
God, than to the images of God painted. Richard
Item, That he had the Lord's Prayer and the salutation of the angel and the Hilmaa.
Creed in English, and another book did he see and had, which contained the Scrip-
epistles and gospels in English, and according to them would he live, and 2Sttk
thereby believed to be saved.
Item, That no priest speaketh better in the pulpit than that book.
Item. That the sacrament of the altar is but bread, and that the priests make
it to blind the people.
Item, That a priest, while he is at mass, is a priest ; and after one mass done,
till the beginning of another mass, he is no more than a lay-man, and hath no
more power than a mere lay-man.
After they were enforced to recant, they were assoiled and put to
penance.
In the year of our Lord 1488, the third of April, Margery Govt,
wife of James Govt of Ashburn, was brought before the aforesaid
John bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, and was there accused as
follows :
That she said, that that which the priests lift over their heads at mass, Against
was not the true and very body of Christ ; for, if it were so, the priests the sacra-
could not break it so lightly into four parts, and swallow it as they do ; for S™ito
the Lord's body hath flesh and bones : so hath not that which the priests
receive.
Item, That priests buying forty cakes for a halfpenny, and showing them to
the people, and saying, that of every of them they make the body of Christ, do
nothing but deceive the people and enrich themselves.
Item, Seeing God in the beginning did create and make man, how can it be
that man should be able to make God?
This woman also was constrained to recant, and so was she assoiled
and did penance.
Thus much I thought good here to insert, touching these aforesaid
people of Coventry, especially for this purpose, because our cavilling
adversaries be wont to object against us the newness of Christ's old
and ancient religion. To the intent, therefore, they may sec this
doctrine not to be so new as they report, I wish they would consider
both the time and articles here objected against these aforesaid persons,
as is above-premised.
I should also in the same reign of king Henry VII., have intro- ricus,
duced that story of Johannes Picus. earl of Mirandula, the mention Miran-
of whose name partly is touched before. This Picus, earl of Miran- dub'
dula, being but a young man, was so excellently witted. and so singu-
larly learned in all sciences, and in all tongues, both Latin, Greek,
and Hebrew, Chaldce, and Araby, that coming to Koine booted and
spurred, he set up ninety conclusions, to dispute in the same with
any in all Christendom, whosoever would come against him; of which
conclusions divers were touching the matter of the sacrament, ecc.
And when none was found in all Rome, nor in Europe, that openly
would dispute with him, privily and in corners certain of the popes
clergy, prelates, lawyers, and friars, by the pope appointed, consulted
together to inquire upon his conclusions; whereupon they did articu-
136 ANCIENT ECCLESIASTICAL LAWS OF THIS REALM.
Mmm% late against him for suspicion of heresy. And thus the unlearned
VIL c.]c.rirV of Rome privily circumvented and entangled this learned earl
A.I), in their snares of heresy, against whom they durst never openly dis-
1509- pnte. He died being of the age of thirty-two years, of such wit and
towardness, as is hard to say whether Italy ever bred up a better. In
his sickness Charles VIII. the French king, moved with the fame of
his learning, came to visit him. The furniture of his books cost him
seven thousand florins. A little before his death his mind was to
give all away, and to take a cowl, to go about and preach; but the
Lord would not permit him. His story requireth a long tractation,
which, if place do serve, we will not peradventure forget. With two
popes, that is, with pope Innocent, and Alexander VI., he had much
vexation.
The names of the Archbishops of Canterbury in this sixth Book
contained.
62 John Stratford, held the 66 Thomas Langton,1 held the
see for 8 years. see for 0 years.
63 John Kempe .... 3 „ 67 Henry Dene .... 2 „
64 Thomas Bouchier . .33 „ 68 William Warham . . 2S „
65 John Morton .... 14 ,,
A BRIEF NOTE OF ECCLESIASTICAL LAWS ORDAINED BY
ANCIENT KINGS IN THIS REALM.
Forasmuch as it is, and hath been a persuasion long engendered
in the heads of many, that the bishops of Rome be the universal
heads of the whole militant church of Christ in earth, and have
always so continued from the beginning of the primitive time ; and
that no prince, king, nor emperor, in his own realm, hath any interest
to intermeddle with matters and laws ecclesiastical, but only the said
bishops of Rome : to refell and remove that opinion out of the heads
of all Englishmen, as a thing most false, and contrary both to
histories of time, and examples of ancient kings and governors of
this realm, I thought to fill up a little end of paper here left, with
some such brief rehearsal of laws devised and appointed by kings
and rulers of this land, for the ordering of the church, and causes
ecclesiastical ; to the intent that all the world may see that the
government of Christ's church here in earth under Christ hath not
depended only of the pope from ancient time, but hath been rather
directed by such kings and princes as God here had placed under
hiin, to govern the people of this realm of England : as followeth
here in this present table to be noted.
A BRIEF RECAPITULATION OF ANCIENT ECCLESIASTICAL LAWS, BY
SUNDRY KINGS OF THIS REALM ORDAINED, FOR GOVERN-
MENT OF THE CHURCH, BEFORE THE CONQUEST.
Ecclesiastical Laws of King Inas, or Ina.
I- Inst, king Inas, who reigned in this land a. d. 712, commanded that
" '' ls should frame their conversation of life; according to the form in laws
prescribed.
ll) Thl I i was elected aichbiehop, but died before he was confirmed.]
ANCIEXT ECCLESIASTICAL LAWS OF THIS REALM. 137
II. That infants should he baptized within thirty days. Umry
III. Item, That no man, lay or spiritual, free or bond, should labour on the yu-
A.l).
1509.
Sunday.
IV. Item, He established immunity of churches, and sanctuary. Also he
took order. for the true payment of church duties, and of the first-fruits of all
that was sown, to be paid at the day of St. Martin.
Ecclesiastical Laws of King Alured, or Alfred.
I. King Alfred, after he had ordained divers judicial punishments for vio-
lating the holy precepts of God commanded by Moses, he also confirmed and
enlarged the privilege of sanctuary : he laid double pain upon such as com-
mitted offences in the solemnities of certain feasts; also against them that
committed sacrilege.
II. He made a law against priests committing murder.
III. Also he made a law against whoredom, adultery, and fornication.
IV. He appointed days of fasting, and ceasing from labour.
V. Item, He set order for making and keeping vows.
Ecclesiastical Laws of King Edward the Elder, and Gythram the
Dane King.
I. First, They agreed upon the sanctuary; they forbade gentility and
paganism ; tltey laid punishment upon the clergy committing theft, perjury,
or murder, fornication, or any capital crime.
II. They punished priests, that pretermitted their office in pronouncing
festival, or fasting days.
III. They made a law against all labour, buying and selling upon the
sabbath, also for keeping of feasts.
Item, For no execution to be done on the Sunday.
Also against witches and sorcerers, &c.
Ecclesiastical Laws of King Athelstan.
I. King Athelstan, who reigned a.d. 924, commanded that every village of
his own should give a monthly corody1 to a poor person.
II. That fifty Psalms should be sung daily in the church, for the king, &c.
III. He also ordained punishment for witches and sorcerers, &c
Ecclesiastical Laws of King Edmund
I. After king Athelstan followed king Edmund about a.d. 940, who esta-
blished and provided laws against the unchaste living of churchmen.
II. Item, He made laws concerning tithes, with first-fruits of every man's
crop, and alms-money duly to be paid.
III. He enacted, That bishops, of their own proper charges, should repair
churches, and should also admonish the king for the furnishing of the same.
IV. For perjury also, and for fighting within the church, he set laws and
pains.
Ecclesiastical Laws of King Edgar.
I. King Edgar, who began his reign about a.d. 959, amongst other consti-
tutions ecclesiastical, ordained that the Sunday should be kept holy from Satur-
day at noon, till Monday in the morning.
II. Item, He ordained and decreed concerning liberties and freedoms of the
church ; for tithes also, and first-fruits of corn, and paying of Peter-pence.
III. Item, For holy days and fasting days.
IV. Item, That assemblies or synods should be kept twice every year,
whereat as well the bishop of the diocese should be present, as the civil
magistrate.
the king, for the maintenance of one of
138 ANCIEKT ECCLESIASTICAL LAWS OF THIS REALM.
"^ King Ethelred, a.d. 979
A. D. King Etlielred also, who succeeded after Edgar and Edward, appointed
L509. divers laws for public regiment, whereof we find but few touching matters
ecclesiastical ; for tithes, lights, feasts, and nothing else, and therefore we pass
further, to the laws of Canute.
Ecclesiastical Laws of King Canute.
Canute the Dane, king, began to reign in this land a.d. 1016. The said Canute
(as Ethelred had done before) divided his laws into ecclesiastical and temporal.
I. That ecclesiastical persons, being accused of fighting, murder, or anv other
offence, should purge themselves thereof.
II. That priests should be degraded for perjury, and put in sureties of good
behaviour.
III. He prayeth priests, that they will live chaste, and commanded other
religious.
IV. He limited the degrees of marriage.
V. Item, he commanded celebration of the Sabbath from Saturday at noon,
till Monday morning, as Edgar had done before, forbidding markets, huntings,
labours, and court-keepings, during the said space.
VI. He ordained each christian man to come to the housel,1 thrice yearly at
least ; that they might search and inquire after God's law, and his command-
ments.
VII. That every christian man understand the points of his faith, and that
at least he learn perfectly the Lord's prayer and the creed ; and that whosoever
cannot, the same shall be excluded from the eucharist, and shall not be received
to undertake for others in baptism.
VIII. That bishops and priests should do their duties; that they cry out and
warn their flocks when the wolf cometh.
IX. That at the court of every shire the bishop of the diocese shall be present
with the sheriff, and that the one shall teach them God's law, and the other
man's law; as ye heard in king Edgar's laws before.
Kings of Many other laws, both ecclesiastical and temporal, besides these,
',';'!;!!v"'i!'0 were enacted by these and other kings here in England, before the
conquest Conquest ; but these be sufficient to give the understanding reader to
governors 1 ' . , s , ,-, ■nto1 . . .-,
as well in consider how the authority ot the bishops ot Komc, all this while,
.'..TK-Vins- extended not so far to prescribe laws for government of the church,
temporal but that kings an(l pi'inces of the realm, as they be now, so were then,
full governors here under Christ, as well in causes ecclesiastical as
temporal, both in directing orders, instituting laws, in calling of synods,
and also in conferring bishoprics and benefices, without any leave of
the Romish bishops. Thus Odo, Dunstan, Oswold, Ethelwold, Adel-
lnus, and Lanfranc, although they fetched their palls afterward from
Home, yet were they made bishops and archbishops by kings only,
and not by popes.
And thus stood the government of this realm of England all the
', time before the Conquest, till pope Hildebrand, through the setting
J ,;;;;;.'/',',;',' on of the Saxons, began first to bring the emperor (who was Henry
pope'i I \ .) underfoot. Then followed the subduing of other emperors,
'ton" kings, and subjects after that; as namely here in England, when
Lanfranc, Anselm, and Bccket, went to complain of their kings and
governors, then brought they the pope's judicial authority first from
Rome over this land, both over kings and subjects; which ever since
(i; " Housel," the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.— Ed.
THE PROUD TRIMACY OF POPES DESCRIBED. YS9
hath continued, till these latter years. Albeit the said kings of this Bccidas-
realm of England, being prudent princes, and seeing right well the y/,1™^.
ambitious presumption of those Romish bishops, did what they could
to shake off the yoke of their supremacy, as appeareth by the laws
and acts of their parliaments, both in king Edward IIL's time, king
Richard II., and king Henry IV., above in their parliament notes
specified ; yet, for fear of other foreign princes, and the blind opinion
of their subjects, such was then the calamity of that time, that they
neither could nor durst compass that which fain they would ; till, at
last, the time of their iniquity being complete, through the Lord's
wonderful working, their pride had a fall, as in the next pages ensu-
ing (the Lord so granting), shall by process of history be declared.
€fje prouD JDrimacn of $ope£ Described,
IN ORDER OF THEIR RISING UP, BY LITTLE AND LITTLE, FROM
FAITHFUL BISHOPS AND MARTYRS, TO BECOME LORDS AND
GOVERNORS OVER KINGS AND KINGDOMS, EXALTING THEM-
SELVES IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD, ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED
GOD.1
In the history of the primitive church before described hath been, Martyr-
gentle reader! set forth and exhibited the grievous afflictions and^d
sorrowful torments, which, through God's secret sufferance, fell upon w^p*
the true saints and members of Christ's church in that time, especially wicked
upon the good bishops, ministers, and teachers of the flock, of whom erai'L'rors-
some were scourged, some beheaded, some crucified, some burned,
some had their eyes put out, some one way, some another, miserably
consumed : which days of woeful calamity continued (as is foreshowed)
near the space of three hundred years. During that time the dear
spouse and elect church of God, being sharply assaulted on every side,
had small rest, no joy, nor outward safety in this present world, but,
in much bitterness of heart, in continual tears and mourning under
the cross, passed over their days, being spoiled, imprisoned, contemned,
reviled, famished, tormented, and martyred every where ; who neither
durst well tarry at home for fear and dread, and much less durst
come abroad for the enemies, but only by night, when they assembled
as they might, sometimes to sing psalms and hymns together. In all
which their dreadful dangers, and sorrowful afflictions, notwithstand-
ing the goodness of the Lord left them not desolate ; but the more
their outward tribulations did increase, the more their inward consola-
tions did abound : and the further off they seemed from the joys of
this life, the more present was the Lord with them, with grace and
fortitude to confirm and rejoice their souls : and though their posses-
sions and riches in this world were lost and spoiled, yet were they Tlu. ,,„,.
enriched with heavenly gifts and treasures from above, a hundred-fold. [*chea "'
Then was true religion truly felt in heart. Then was Christianity church.
not in outward appearance showed, but in inward affection received,
and the true image of the church, net in outward show pvetensed, but
in her perfect state effectual. Then was the name and fear of God
true in heart, not in lips alone dwelling. Faith then was fervent,
(l) 2 Then ii.
140 THE FIRST RISING OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME.
Ecdetio, zeal ardent ; prayer not swimming in the lips, but groaned out to
ll'Znj. God from the bottom of the spirit. Then was no pride in the church,
nor leisure to seek riches, nor time to keep them. Contention for
trifles was then so far from Christians, that well were they when they
could meet to pray together against the devil, author of all dissension.
Briefly, the whole church of Christ Jesus, with all the members
thereof, the farther it was from the type and shape of this world, the
nearer it was to the blessed respect of God's favour and supportation.
THE FIRST RISING OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME.
After this long time of trouble it pleased the Lord at length merci-
fully to look upon the saints and servants of his Son, to release their
captivity, to release their misery, and to bind up the old dragon the
devil, which so long vexed them ; whereby the church began to aspire to
some more liberty, and the bishops, who before were as abjects, utterly
contemned of emperors, through the providence of God (who disposeth
all things in his time after his own will) began now of emperors to be
esteemed and had in price. Furthermore, as emperors grew more in
devotion, so the bishops more and more were exalted, not only in fa-
vour, but also preferred unto honour, insomuch that in short space they
became not quarter-masters, but rather half emperors with emperors.
After this, in process of time, as 'riches and worldly wealth crept
into the clergy, and that the devil had poured his venom into the
church (as the voice was heard the same time over Constantinople)1 so
true humility began to decay, and pride to set in his foot, till at last
they played as the ivy doth with the oak tree, which, first beginning
with a goodly green show, embraceth him so long, till at length it
overgroweth him, and so sucketh all his moisture from him, setting
his root fast in his bark, till at last it both stifleth the stock, and
killeth the branches, and so cometh to be a nest for owls and all
unclean birds. Not untruly, therefore, it was said of Augustine,
spiritual " Religio peperit divitias, &c. filia devoravit matrem \'"2 that is, " Re-
nt ligion begat riches, and the daughter hath devoured the mother."
the
tam°d* ^ie ver^y whereof notoriously may appear above all others in the
worldly church of Rome, and the bishops of the same ; for after the church of
Rome, through favour of emperors, was endued with lands, donations,
possessions, and patrimonies, so that the bishops thereof, feeling the
smack of wealth, ease, and prosperity, began to swell in pomp and
pride;3 the more they flourished in this world, the more God's Holy
Spirit forsook them ; till at last the said bishops, who at the first
were poor, creeping low upon the ground, and Avere persecuted a long
time, every man treading upon them in this world ; now of persecuted
people, began to be persecutors of others, and to tread upon the
necks even of emperors, and to bring the heads of kings and princes
under their girdle. And not only that, but furthermore, through
pride and riches, they were so far gone from all religion, that in the
very end they became the great adversary of God (whom we call
Antichrist), prophesied of so long before by the Spirit of God to
come, sitting in the temple of God, &c, of whom thus we read in the
(1) This retell to an event which is said to have occurred at the period when temporal immuni-
•• "1 mi the church by Constantine : whenan angelic voice was heard in the air, saying,
llortu- i-tluxum i-st vencnum in cr-desia sancta Dei." See Wick'.itl', Dialog, lib. iv. ch. 18.— Eu.
V) Ex lib. Serin. Disciimli. (3) Look to Tyndal, in his book of the Practice of Prelates.
the words of sr. paul expounded. 141
epistle of Paul [2 Thess. ii.], where he saith, " We beseech you, Seeiuuu-
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our fellow- mrt£g-
ship together in him, that ye be not suddenly moved in your mind, .
nor troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor letter, as it were adversary
from us, as though the day of Christ were at hand. Let no man in Ami'-1
any wise deceive you, for that day shall not come except there come %$%£*'
a departing first, and that man of sin be revealed, even the son of
perdition ; that adversary which cxalteth himself above all that is
called God, or that is worshipped, so that he shall sit in the temple of
God, as God, and set forth himself as he were God," &c.
THE WORDS OF ST. PAUL EXPOUNDED.
By which words of St. Paul, we have divers things to understand :
First, That the day of the Lord's coming was not then near at hand.
Secondly, The apostle, giving us a token before, to know when that
day shall approach, biddeth us look for an adversary first to be re-
vealed. Thirdly, To show what adversary this shall be, he cxpresseth
him not to be as a common adversary, such as were then in his time.
For although Herod, Annas, and Caiaphas, the high priests and
Pharisees, Tertullus, Alexander the coppersmith, Elymas, and Simon
Magus, and Nero the emperor, in Paul's time, were great adversaries ;
yet here he meaneth another besides these, greater than all the rest ;
not such a one as should be like to priest, king, or emperor ; but such
as, far exceeding the state of all kings, priests, and emperors, should
be the prince of priests, should make kings to stoop, and should tread
upon the neck of emperors, and make them to kiss his feet. More-
over, where the apostle saith, that he shall sit in the temple of God ;
thereby is meant, not the personal sitting of the pope in the city only
of Rome, but the authority and jurisdiction of his see exalted in the
whole universal church, equal with God himself. For let men give to The pope
the pope that which he, in his laws, decrees, and in his pontifical, re- Smsei"8
quireth, and what difference is there between God and the pope ? If *ven with
God set laws and ordinances, so doth he. If God hath his creatures,
so hath he. If God require obedience, so doth he. If the breach of
God's commandments be punished, much more be his. God hath his
religion, the pope also hath his ; for God's one religion, he hath
a hundred. God hath set up one advocate, he hath a hundred.
God hath instituted but a few holy days ; for God's one, he hath
instituted forty. And if the holy day that God hath appointed be
' simplex,' the feast that the pope appointeth, is ' duplex,' and ' tri-
plex.' Christ is the head of the church ; so is the pope. Christ
giveth influence to his body ; so doth the pope. Christ forgivcth sin ;
the pope doth no less. Christ cxpelleth evil spirits by his power ; so
pretendcth the pope by his holy water. Furthermore, where Christ
went barefoot upon the bare ground, he with his golden shoes is car-
ried on men's shoulders ; and where Christ was called Sanctus Sanc-
torum, he is called Sanctorum Sanctissimus. Christ never practised
but only the spiritual sword ; he claimeth both spiritual and temporal.
Christ bought the church ; he both buycth and selleth the church.
And if it be necessary to believe Christ to be the Saviour of the
world ; so it is necessary to believe the pope to be the head of tlic
church. Christ paid tribute unto Caesar; he maketh Caesar pay
]4Q EXALTATION OF TOPES ABOVE PHINCES.
Seetefa* tribute unto him. Finally, the crown of Christ was of sharp thorns ;
the pope hath three crowns of gold upon his head, as far exceeding
— ■ — - Christ the Son of God in the glory of this world, as Christ exceedeth
him in the glory of heaven ; the image and pattern of whose intole-
rable pride and exaltation, according as St. Paul doth describe him in
his epistle aforesaid, we have here set forth, not only in these histories
to be seen, and by his own facts to be noted, but also in his own
words and registers, Clementines, extravagants, and pontificals, ex-
pressed, as in order (the Lord willing) shall follow.
THE EXALTATION OF POPES ABOVE KINGS AND EMPERORS, OUT
OF HISTORIES.
The pa- First, After Italy and the city of Rome were overrun by the
constant Goths and Vandals, so that the seat of the empire was removed to
s'uil'I'uL.i Constantinople, then began John, the patriarch of Constantinople,
by the to put forth himself, and would needs be called universal bishop of
xuo'the the world ; but the bishop of Rome in no case would suffer that,
emperor's .m(i st0ppC(i it. After this came the emperor's deputy, and exarch of
tenant of Ravenna, to rule Italy ; but the bishop of Rome, through aid of
the king of Lombards, soon quailed him.
Not long after, about a. d. 500, came Phocas the murderer, who
slew the emperor of Constantinople, his master Mauritius and his
now the children. By -which Phocas the bishops of old Rome aspired first
'.';,",,,',",l's"' to their pre-eminence, to be counted the head bishops over the whole
toT til-' (,',m'cn 5 an(l so5 together with the Lombards, began to rule the city
head of Rome.1 Afterwards, when the Lombards would not yield unto
18 opSl liini in accomplishing his ambitious desire, but would needs require
of the bishop the said city of Rome ; he stirred up Pepin, but first
deposed Childeric the king of France, and so thrusting him into an
abbey, set up in his place Pepin and his son Charlemagne, to put
down the said king of Lombards, called Aistulphus. And so he
translated the empire from Constantinople into France, dividing the
spoil between him and them ; so that the kings of France had all
the possessions and lands which before belonged to the empire, and
he to receive of them the quiet possession of the city of Rome, with
such donations and lordships, which now they challenge unto them
under the name of St. Peter's patrimony, which they falsely ascribe
to that donation of Constantine the Great.
It followeth then in process of time, after the days of Pepin,
Charlemagne, and Ludovic (who had endued these bishops of Rome,
died now popes, with large possessions), when the kings of France
were not so appliable to their beck, to aid and maintain them against
the princes of Italy, who began then to pinch the said bishops for
theii wrongfully usurped goods, they practised with the Germans to
"luce the empire to Otho, first of that name, duke of Spain, re-
ferring the election thereof to seven princes electors of Germanv,
Inch wus about a.d. 1002; notwithstanding, reserving still in his
hands the negative voice, thinking thereby to enjoy that they had
in quietness and security, and so did for a good space.
A i length, when some of these German emperors also after Otho
" ■ 111 obtained ut Phocas to be called universal bishop.
Donation
villi tho
till- nil
pin "i
G
WAtt AGAINST CONRAD I!Y BISHOPS OF I10MK. 14 »
began a little to spurn against the said bishops ami popes of Rome ; Kcci™™-
some of them they accursed, some they subdued and brought to the History.
kissing of their feet, some they deposed, and placed others in their
possessions.
So was Henry IV. by these bishops accursed, the emperor himselt Emperors
forced with his wife and child to wait attendance upon the pope's H^'tiic-
pleasure three days and three nights in winter, at the gates of Canossus, pope,
or Canusium.1 Besides all this the said pope raised up Kodulph to
be emperor against him ; who being slain in war, then the said pope
Chregory VII., not resting thus, stirred up his own son Henry V.
to fight against his own natural father, and to depose him ; which
Henry V. was also himself afterwards accursed and excommunicated,
and the Saxons at last set up by the bishops to fight against him.
After this, the emperors began to be somewhat calmed, and more
quiet, suffering the bishops to reign as they listed, till Frederic I.,
called Barbarossa, came and began to stir coals against them. How-
beit they hampered both him, and his son Henry in such sort, that
they brought first the neck of Frederic, in the church of Venice, under
their feet, to tread upon ; and after that, the said bishops, crowning
Henry his son in the church of St. Peter, set his crown on his head
with their feet, and with their feet spurned it off again, to make him
know that the popes of Rome had power both to crown emperors,
and depose them again ; whereof read before.
Then followed Philip, brother to Henry aforesaid, whom also the
popes accursed, about a. d. 1198, and set up Otho duke of Saxony.
But when the said Otho began to be so saucy, to dispossess the bishops
of their cities and lands which they had encroached into their hands,
they could not bear that, but incontinent they put him beside the
cushion. The like also fell upon Otho IV., that followed after
Philip, who was suffered no longer than four years to reign, about
a. d. 1209.
At this time Frederic II., the son of Frederic Barbarossa above- Hono-^
mentioned, was but young, whom the bishops of Rome, supposing to Gregory
find more mortified and tamed to their hand, advanced to be emperor j;^;0.
after his father. But that fell out much contrary to their expectation ; ^unt'-
for he, perceiving the immoderate pomp and pride of the Roman Frederic
bishops, which he could in no case abide, so nettled them and cut Jorc,"p"'
their combs, and waxed so stout against them, intending to extirpate
their tyranny, and to reduce their pompous riches to the state and
condition of the primitive church again, putting some of them to
flight, and imprisoning some of their cardinals, that of three popes,
one after another, he was accursed, circumvented by treason, at last War
deposed, and after that poisoned; and, at last, forsaken and died. raised^
After this Frederic, followed his son Conrad, whom the aforesaid Conn^(
bishops for his disobedience soon despatched, exciting against him in |&££gof
mortal war the Landgrave of Thuringia, whereby he was at length aome.
driven into his kingdom of Naples, and there deceased.
Tins Conrad had a son called Conradine, duke and prince of
Suevia.2 When this Conradine, after the decease of his father came
to enjoy his kingdom of Naples, the said bishops stirred up against
him Charles the French king's brother, in such sort, that through
1) See vol. ii. p. 128.— Ed. (2) El Aventino.
144 SUPPLICATION OF KING JOHN TO POPE INNOCENT III.
Ecciesias- crafty conveyance, both Conradinc who was descended of the blood
Hitiory. of so many emperors, and also Frederic duke of Austria, were both
taken, and after much wretched handling in their miserable endurance,
unseeming to their state, at length were both brought under the axe
by the pope's procurement, and so both beheaded. And thus ended
the imperial stock of Frederic I., surnamed Barbarossa.
The like as happened to Frederic the emperor, had almost also
fallen upon Philip the French king, by pope Boniface VIII., who,
Insolency
of pope
lioniface
vhl because he could not have his commodities and revenues out of
lnliiip, France after his will, sent out his bulls and letters patent to dis-
place king Philip aforesaid, to possess Albert I. king of Romans in
the
French
ki"°- his roor
And thus hitherto of foreign stories. Now touching our country
princes here in England, to speak somewhat likewise of them : did
not pope Alexander III. presumptuously taking upon him where he
had nothing to do, to intermeddle with the king's subjects, for the
death of Becket the rebel ? Albeit the king sufficiently cleared him-
self thereof, yet, notwithstanding, did he not wrongfully bring the
said king Henry II. to such penance as it pleased him to enjoin, and
also violently constrained him to swear obedience to the see of Rome ?
the like also was showed before in this story to happen to king John
his son ; for when the said king, like a valiant prince, had held out
the tyranny ot those bishops seven years together, were not all the
churches in England barred up, and his inheritance with all his
dominions given away by pope Innocent III. to Ludovicus the
French king, and he afterwards compelled to submit both himself,
and to make his whole realm feudatory to the bishops of Rome ? and,
moreover, the king himself driven also to surrender his crown to
Pandulph the pope's legate, and so continued as a private person five
clays, standing at the pope's courtesy, whether to receive it again at
his hands or no ? And when the nobles of the realm rose afterwards
against the king for the same, was not he then fain to seek and sue
to the aforesaid pope for succour, as by his own letter,1 hereunder
to be seen, taken out of the public rolls, may appear ?
And yet, all this notwithstanding (though the said king John did
so yield to the pope), he was both pursued by his nobles, and also in
the end was poisoned by a subject of the pope's own religion, a monk
of Swinstead ; as I have sufficiently to prove, not only by William
Caxton above in my story alleged, but also have testimony of the
most part of chronicles for the same (a few only excepted), as of
Thomas Gray in his French Chronicle; also of another French
chronicle in metre, of Ranulphus Cestrensis: Thomas Rudburn also
•loth witness the same; so doth Richard Rede, in 'Novo Chronico
(1) The Supplication of King John to Pope Innocent the Thirds
Rcvcrcndis. Domino suo et Patri Sanctis. Innocentio Dei gratia, Johan. eadera gratia Rex Anglic,
' i 'larones Angliae nobis devoti essent, anteiinam 008 et nostram terrain do-
cre curassemns, ex tunc in nos specialiter ob hoc, sicut publico dicunt, violenter
, , ' '" ' wr" prater Ileum vos specialem doininum et patronum babentes, defensionem
,,',' ;''", ' . '"""' "'■:■"'• quod vestrum esse credimus, vestrae paternitati cbmmissam, et nos quan-
...... ,'" e«. curam el solicitudinein istam vestrae resignamus dominationi, devotius suppli-
malta. vV ""l'N '" '"'"",us noBtris, qua veatra sunt, consilium et auxilium efficax apponatis, prout
u.iiius, viuemis txpedu-e, latorea pnesentium, &c. Teste meiuao apud Dour. is. Septem. 6.
(1) Ex itotulo patent, de an. Rcgni Reg. Johannis VlIL
THE IMAGE OF ANTICHRIST. ! 1 -."i
ad tempora,1 Henry VI. ; the like also doth the chronicle called BccImUu
1 Eulogium Monachi Cant.1 The words of Walter Gishurn, an BbuHy.
ancient historiographer, be plain. No less is to be found in Johannes
Major, ' De Gestis Scotorum,' lib. iv. cap. 3, fob 56, where he not
only niaketh mention of the monk and of the poison, but also of the
abbot, of his absolution, and of the three monks every day singing
for the said monk's soul. To these I could also annex divers other
writers both English and Latin, without name, who witness that king
John was poisoned ; one beginning thus, " Here beginneth a book Writers
in the English tongue, called ' Brute,1 " &c. Another beginneth, Zh"ul\
" Because this book is made to tell what time any thing, notable,11 &c. L?tin
The third in English beginneth, " The reign of Britain that now is name,
called England,11 &c. Of Latin books which have no name, one
beginneth thus : " Britannia, quso et Anglia dicitur, a Bruto nomen
est sortita,11 &c. Another hath this beginning : " Adam pater generis
humani,11 &c.
Besides this king Henry II., and king John his son, what kings
have here reigned in England since their time, until the reign of king
Henry VIII. ; who, although they were prudent princes, and did
what they could in providing against the proud domination of these Hen. in.
bishops, yet were forced at length sore against their wills, for fear, to JileTifee
subject themselves, together with their subjects, under their usurped «£*»
authority, insomuch that some of them (as Matthew Paris writeth of legate.
king Henry III.) were fain to stoop and kiss their legate's knee.
arfje SImage Df 3Cnticfjr$t, ejraftmg ijirttfelf in tlje Ctmple of <©od,
abotoe all tfjat tf named <£>oo,a
OUT OF HIS OWN DECREES, DECRETALS, EXTRAVAGANTS, PON-
TIFICALS, ETC., WORD FOR WORD, AS IT IS OUT OF THE
SAID BOOKS HERE ALLEGED AND QUOTED.
1 Forasmuch as it standeth upon necessity of salvation, for every
human creature to be subject unto me the pope of Rome, it shall be
therefore requisite and necessary for all men that will be saved, to
leai-n and know the dignity of my see, and excellency of my domina-
tion, as is here set forth according to the truth and very words of
mine own laws, in style as followcth : 2 First, my institution began in
the Old Testament, and was consummated and finished in the New,
in that my priesthood was prefigured by Aaron ; and other bishops
under me were prefigured by the sons of Aaron, that were under
him ; 3 neither is it to be thought that my church of Rome hath been
preferred by any general council, but obtained the primacy only by
the voice of the Gospel, and the mouth of the Saviour, 4and hath in it
neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such like thing. 'Wherefore, as
other seats be all inferior to me, and as they cannot absolve me, so
have they no power to bind me or to stand against me, no more than
the axe hath power to stand or presume above him that heweth with
it, or the saw to presume above him that ndeth it. "This is the holy
(a) 2 Thess. ii.
O) Tope Bonifarius VIII. Extra«ag. de Majori. el Obed. C. ' I'nam.'
(2) Distinct. 12. c. ' Decretis. (8) Pope Pelagius, dlBt. 21. e. •Ouamvjs.'
(4) Pelagius, ibidem. (5) Pope Nicolaus. dist. 21. c. ' Inferior.'
(6) Pope Lucius, 24. q. i. c. 2. ' Recta.'
VOL. IV. L
]46 T1TF. IMAGE OF ANTICHRIST. EXALTING HIMSELF
Eccieria*- and apostolic mother-church of all other churches of Christ ; 7from
jhst'tr, whose rules it is not meet that any person or persons should decline ;
" but like as the Son of God came to do the will of his Father, so
must you do the will of your mother the church, the head whereof is
the church of Rome ; "and if any other person or persons shall err
from the said church, either let them be admonished, or else their
names taken, to be known who they be, that swerve from the customs
of Rome.
"Thus then, forasmuch as the holy church of Rome, whereof I am
governor, is set up to the whole world for a glass or example, reason
would what thing soever the said church determineth, or ordaineth,
that to be received of all men for a general and a perpetual rule for
ever. 10 Whereupon we see it now verified in this church, that was
fore-prophesied "by Jeremy, saying, " Behold, I have set thee up over
nations and kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to build and
to plant," &c. "Whoso understandeth not the prerogative of this
my priesthood, let him look up to the firmament, where he may see
two great lights, the sun and the moon, one ruling over the day, the
other over the night : .so in the firmament of the universal church,
12 God hath set two great dignities, the authority of the pope, and of
the emperor ; of which two, this our dignity is so much more weighty,
as we have the greater charge to give account to God for kings of the
earth, and the laws of men.
13 Wherefore be it known to you emperors, who know it also right
well, that you depend upon the judgment of us : we must not be
brought and reduced to your will. uFor, as I said, look what differ-
ence there is betwixt the sun and the moon, so great is the power of
the pope ruling over the day, that is, over the spiritualty, above
emperors and kings, ruling over the night ; that is, over the laity.
15Now, seeing then the earth is seven times bigger than the moon, and
the sun eight times greater than the earth ; it followeth that the
pope's dignity fifty-six times doth surmount the estate of the empe-
rors. "Upon consideration whereof, I say therefore and pronounce,
that Constantine the emperor did wrong, in setting the patriarch of
Constantinople at his feet on his left hand. 17And although the said
emperor wrote to me, alleging the words of St. Peter, commanding
us to submit ourselves to every human creature, as to kings, dukes,
and others for the cause of God, &c. [1 Pet. ii.], yet, in answering
again in my decretal, I expounded the mind and the words of St.
Peter to pertain to his subjects, and not his successors ; willing the
said emperor to consider the person of the speaker, and to whom it
was spoken. For if the mind of Peter had been there to debase the
order of priesthood, and to make us underlings to every human crea-
ture, then every Jack might have dominion over prelates ; which
maketh against the example of Christ, setting up the order of priest-
hood to bear dominion over kings, according to the saying of Jeremy,
Behold, I have set thee up over kings and nations,11 &c.
< ,-ilixtus rtist. 12. c. ' Non decet.' (8) Pope Innocentius II. c. 'Quis.'
(8) Pope Btephan. <:ist. 19. c. ' Enimvero.'
(10) Pope Bonliac. VIII. Extravag.c. 'Unam sanctam.' Item, pope Johannes XXII. Extravag.
r;M> ' Bupei (ID Pope Innocent. III. art. tie Major, et obe. c. ' Solitffi.'
(12) Pope Qelasus diet. 96. c. ' Duo.' 13) Ibidem.
(M) bwocentlue da Major. et obe. c. 'Solita.' (15) Glossa. Ibidem. (16) Ibidem.
1 1/ 1 Imioi entJui. Ibid.
\
ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD. 147
18 And as I feared not then to write this boldly unto Constantine, so AeM»
now I say to all other emperors, that they, receiving of me their niuJry.
approbation, unction, consecration, and crown imperial; must not dig- —
dain to submit their heads under me, and swear unto me their alle-
giance. I9For so you read in the decree of pope John, how that
princes heretofore have been wont to bow and submit their heads
unto bishops, and not to proceed in judgment against the heads of
bishops. 20 If this reverence and submission were wont to be given
to bishops, how much more ought they to submit their heads to me
being superior, not only to kings, but emperors ? and that for two
causes : first, for my title of succession, that I, pope of Rome, have
to the empire, the room standing vacant ; also for the fulness ot
power that Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, hath given
to me, though unworthy, in the person of Peter ; 21 by reason whereof,
seeing my power is not of man, but of God, who by his celestial
providence hath set me over his whole universal church, master and
governor, it belongeth therefore to my office, to look upon every
mortal sin of every christian man ; 22 whereby all criminal offences, as
well of kings as all others, be subject to my censure, 23in such sort,
that in all manner of pleading, if any manner of person at any time,
either before the sentence given, or after, shall appeal to me, it shall
be lawful for him so to do : "neither must kings and princes think
it much to submit themselves to my judgment ; for so did Valen-
tinian the worthy emperor, so did Theodosius, and also Charlemagne.
25 Thus you see all must be judged by me, and I of no man. Yea,
and though I, pope of Rome, by my negligence or evil demeanour, be
found unprofitable or hurtful, either to myself or others ; yea, if I
should draw with me innumerable souls by heaps to hell, yet may
no mortal man be so hardy, so bold, or so presumptuous, to reprove
me, 26orto say to me, "Domine cur ita facis •" that is, " Sir, why do
you so P11 "For although you read that Balaam was rebuked by his
ass, by which ass our subjects, by Balaam we prelates, are signified ;
yet that ought to be no example to our subjects to rebuke us. 28And
though we read in the scripture, that Peter, who received power of
the kingdom, and being chief of the apostles, might, by virtue of his
office, control all others, was content to come and give answer before
his inferiors, objecting to him his going to the Gentiles ; yet other
inferiors must not learn by this example to be checkmate with their
prelates, because Peter so took it at their hands; showing thereby rather
a dispensation of humility, than the power of his office : by which
power he might have said to them again in this wise, " It becometh
not sheep, nor belongeth to their office, to accuse their shepherd.
29 For else, why was Dioscorus patriarch of Alexandria condemned and
excommunicated at Chalcedon ? Not for any cause of his faith, but
only for that he durst stand against Pope Leo, and durst excommuni-
cate the bishop of Rome : for who is he that hath authority to accuse
the seat of St. Peter ? 30Albcit I am not ignorant what St. Jerome
(18) Pope Clement V. Clement de jurc-jurando. c. ' Romani.'
(19) Pope Johannes dist. 96. c. ' Nunquam.'
(20) Pope Clement V. Clement de Sentent. ot de rejudi pasloralis.
(21) Pope Innocent III. De judiciis c. ' Novit.' (22) Ibidem
i23) Pope Marcellus, caus. 2. q.6. c. ' Ad Romanam.' (24) Innocent. ' Novit ille.'
(25) Bonifacius Martvr. dist. 40. c. 'Si Papa.' (26) Glossa I'.xtr. de lede vacant. Ad apostolatus
(27) Pope Leo, caus. 2. q. 7. c. ' Nos. (28) Greg. II. q. 7. c. ' Petnu.'
(28) Pope Nicolaus, dist. 21. c. 'In cantum.' (30) Jer. cans ?. q. 7. c. ' Paulus.'
1,2
|4g THE IMAGE OF ANTICHRIST, EXALTING HIMSELF
Acta** writeth, that Paul would not have reprehended Peter, unless he had
li'LZn thought himself equal unto him ; 31yet Jerome must thus be ex-
pounded by my interpretation, that this equality betwixt Peter and
Paid eonsisteth not in like office of dignity, but in pureness of con-
vocation: 32for who gave Paul his license to preach but Peter?
and that by the authority of God, saying, " Separate to me Paul and
Barnabas," &c.
33 Wherefore, be it known to all men, that my church of Rome is
prince and head of all nations; 34the mother of the faith; "the
foundation cardinal, whereupon all churches do depend, as the door
doth depend by the hinges; 36the first of all other seats, without all
spot or blemish; 37'lady mistress,' and instructer of all churches; 38a
glass and a spectacle unto all men, to be followed in all, whatsoever
she observeth ; 39who was never yet found to slide or decline from
the path of apostolic tradition, or to be entangled with any newness
of heresy; 40 against which church of Rome whosoever speaketh any
evil, is forthwith a heretic, "yea, a very pagan, a witch, and an ido-
later or infidel ; 42 having fulness of power only in her own hands in
ruling; " deciding, absolving, condemning, casting out, or receiving
in. 44 Albeit I deny not but other churches be partakers with her in
labouring and carrying : 45to which church of Rome it is lawful to
appeal for remedy, from the churches.
Although it was otherwise concluded in the general council of
Millevitane, that no man should appeal over the sea under pain of
excommunication, yet my gloss cometh in here with an exception :
" Nisi forte Romanam sedem appellaverint,r' i. e. " Except the appeal
be to the see of Rome ;" &c. 46by the authority of which church of
Rome all synods and decrees of councils stand confirmed, 47and who
hath always full authority in hei hands to make new laws and decre-
ments ; and to alter statutes, privileges, rights or documents of
churches ; to separate things joined, and to join things separated,
upon right consideration, either in whole or in part, either personally
or generally. 48 Of which church of Rome I am head, as a king is
over his judges ; 49the vicar of St. Peter, 50yea, not the vicar of
Peter properly, but the vicar of Christ properly, and successor of
Peter; "vicar of Jesus Christ, "rector of the universal church,
director of the Lord's universal flock, 53 chief magistrate of the whole
world; "Cephas, i.e. caput, the head and chief of the apostolic
church ; "universal pope, and diocesan in all places exempt, as well
as every bishop is in places not exempt; "most mighty priest;
57 " lex animata in ten-is," i.e. 5S" a living law in the earth," judged to
(31) Glossa Gratiani. lb. (32) Glossa in Diss. 11. c. 'Quis.'
(33) Caus. 2. q. 7. c. ' Beati.' (34) Pope Nicolaus, (list. 22. e. ' Omnes.'
(35) P. Anaclct, dist. 22. c. Sacrosancta. (36) P. Pelagius. (list. 21. c. ' Quamvis.'
(37) P. Nicolaus. dist. 21. c. ' Oenique.' (38) P. Steph. (list. 29. c. ' Enimvero.'
? I 'ope Lucius, (list. 24. q. 1. ' Arect.' (40) P. Nicolaus. (list. 22. c. ' Omnes.'
Ill] I'. Grcgor. .list. 81. c. ' Si qui.' (42) P. Leo, caus. 3. q. 6. c. ' Multum.'
I 20. Decretales, (44) Pope Julius, caus. 2. q. C. ' Oui se.'
( I i) Causa. 2. q.G. Arguta. Item. c. ' Ad Romanam.' caus. 2. q. 6. c. ' Placuit.' Glossa. Gratiani.
(40) Pope Gelasi. 25. q. 1. c. ' Coniidimus.'
J) P. Urbanus, 25. q. 1. c. ' Sunt.' P. Pelagius, 25. q. 2. c. ' posteaquam.'
H) Bulla Donations, dist. 96. c. ' Constant.' (49) P. Paschalis, dist. 63. c. ■ Ego.'
1 lenient. V. Clement, c. • Romani Glossa.' (51) P. Bonif. VIII. Sext. Decret. c. ' Obi.'
,82) lbi.ltfn. (53) p. Bonif prohem. Sext. Decrct. ab ' Sacrosancta.'
'"" . (list. 22. c.' Sacrosancta.'
lv ■ Sext Oecret, de panic et rcmis. c. 5. Glossa. Item Alexand. 4. Sext. decret.
'• ;."' £"■* (5fl) P. Hilarius, 25. q. 1. • Nulii.'
(57) Sext Decret cap. ■ Ab ArCitris." Glossa.
(58) I . lionif. Sext. decrct. de const, c. ' Licet.'
X
ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD.
149
have all laws in the chest of my breast ; 69bcaring the room of no BecieHa*-
pure man ; 60 being neither God nor man, but the admiration of the mXry.
world, and a middle thing betwixt both; G1 having both swords in "~
my power, both of the spiritual and temporal jurisdiction ; (V2so far
surmounting the authority of the emperor, that I, of mine own power
alone, without a council, have authority to depose him, or to transfer
his kingdom, and to give a new election, as I did to Frederic and
divers others. G3What power then or potestatc in all the world is
comparable to me, who have authority to bind and loose both in
heaven and earth ? 64that is, who have power both of heavenly things,
and also of temporal things ; 65to whom emperors and kings be more
inferior, than lead is inferior to gold. 66For do you not see the
necks of great kings and princes bend under our knees, yea and
think themselves happy and well defenced, if they may kiss our
hands ? 67 Wherefore the saucincss of Honorius the emperor is to
be reprehended, and his constitution abolished, who, with his laity,
would take upon him to intermeddle, not only with the temporal
order, but also with matters ecclesiastical, and election of the pope.
68 But here percase some will object the examples and words of
Christ, saying, "That his kingdom is not of this world;" and where
he, being required to divide betwixt two brethren their heritage, did
refuse it. But that ought to be no prejudice to my power; cyfor
if Peter, and I in Peter — if we, I say, have power to bind and loose
in heaven, how much more then is it to be thought, that we have
power on earth to loose and to take away empires, kingdoms, duke-
doms, and what else soever mortal men may have, and to give them
where we will ? 70And if we have authority over angels, who be the
governors of princes, what then may we not do upon their inferiors
and servants ? 71 And, for that you shall not marvel that I say angels
be subject to us, you shall hear what my blessed clerk Antoninus
writeth of the matter, saying, That our power, of Peter and me, is
greater than the angels in four things : first, in jurisdiction ; secondly,
in administration of sacraments ; thirdly, in knowledge ; fourthly,
in reward, &c. 72And again, in ' Bulla Clementis,1 do I not there
command, in my bull, the angels of paradise, to absolve the soul of
man out of purgatory, and to bring it into the glory of paradise ?
73 And now, besides my heavenly power, to speak of mine earthly
jurisdiction : Who did first translate the empire from the Greeks to
the Almains, but I ? 74And not only in the empire am I emperor,
the place being empty, but in all ecclesiastical benefices have lull
right and power to give, to translate, and to dispose after my arbitre-
ment. 73Did not I, Zacharias, put down Childeric the old king of
France, and set up Pepin? 76Did not I, Gregory VII., set up
(69) Pope Innocentius III. de trans, c. ' Quanto.'
(60) Prohem. Clement. Gloss. Papa Stupor mundi, &c. ' Nee Deus es, nee homo, quasi neuter cs
inter utrumciue.' ,
(61) P. Bonif. Extravag. de Majorit, ct obed. c. ' Unam.' Item, dist. 22. c. ' Omnes.
(62) Sext. Deer, de sentent. et re. ra. 'Ad apostoli.' Item in (iloss. Ibid.
(63) Pope Nicolaus, dist. 22. c. ' Omnes.' (64) (iloss. Ibid.
(65) Pope GelaMiis, dist. 9G. c. ' Duo.' (66) Pope Gela«iua Ibidem.
(67) Dist. 96. c. ' lllud. ' (68) Ex citatione Micro. Mam.
(69) Pope Hildebraudus. alias Gregorius VII. Ex Platina, in vita Gregorii.
(70) llildvbrandus. Ibidem. (71) Antoninus, in tertia parte Suinm.x- majonv
(72) Bulla Clementis. (78) Pope Innocent deelectione, c. ' Benerabilem.'
(74) Extrav. de praebend. ct dig. c. ' Execrabilis.'
(75) Pope Zacharias, Caus 15. q.6. c. ' Alius.'
(76) Pope Hildebiand. alia;. Gregor. VII. Clement, C. ' l\i>ioralis.
150 THE IMAGE OF ANTICHRIST, EXALTING HIMSELF
Ecctcsms- Robert Wysard, and make him king of Sicily and duke of Capua ?
HiZry. &c. "Did not I, the same Gregory, also set up Rodulphus against
Henry IV., emperor ? 78 And though this Henry was an emperor of
most stout courage, who stood sixty-two times in open field against
his enemies, 79yet did not I, Gregory, bring him ' coram nobis,'' and
make him stand at my gate three days and three nights, bare-foot and
bare-leg, with his wife and child, in the deep of winter, both in frost
and snow, entreating for his absolution ; and afterwards did excom-
municate him again, so that he was twice excommunicated in my
days ?
80 Again, did not I, Paschal, afterwards Gregory, set up the son of
the said Henry against his father in war, to possess the empire, and
to put down his father ? and so he did ! 81 Item, Did not I, pope
Alexander, bring under Henry II., king of England, for the death
of Thomas Becket, and cause him to go barefoot to his tomb at
Canterbury with bleeding feet ? 82 Did not I, Innocent III., cause
king John to kneel down at the feet of Pandulph my legate, and
offer up his crown to his hands ; also to kiss the feet of Stephen
Langton bishop of Canterbury, and besides amerced him in a thou-
sand marks by year ? 83Did not I, Urban II., put down earl Hugo
in Italy, discharging his subjects from their oath and obedience to
him ? 84Did not I, Paschal, excommunicate also his son Henry V.,
and get out of his hands all his right and title of elections and dona-
tions of spiritual promotions ? Did not I, Gelasius II., bring the
captain Cintius under, unto the kissing of my feet ? and after
Gelasius, did not I, Calixtus II., quail the aforesaid emperor
Henry V., and also bring in subjection Gregory, whom the said
emperor had set up against me to be pope, bringing him into Rome
upon a camel, his face to the horse's tail, making him to hold the
horse's tail in his hand, instead of a bridle? 83 Further, did not I,
Innocent II., set up and make Lothaire to be emperor for driving
pope Anacletus out of Rome ? 86Did not I, the said Innocent, take
the dukedom of Sicily from the empire, and make Roger to be king
thereof, whereby afterwards the kingdom became the patrimony of
St. Peter? 87Did not I, Alexander III., suspend all the realm and
churches of England for the king's marriage, a. d. 1159 ?
88 But what do I speak of kings ? Did not I, the said Alexander,
bring the valiant emperor Frederic I. to Venice, by reason of his
son Otho there taken prisoner, and there, in St. Mark's church, make
him fall down flat upon the ground, while I set my foot upon his
neck, saying the verse of the Psalm, " Super aspidem et basiliscum
ambulabifi ?" &c. 89Did not I, Adrian pope, an Englishman born,
excommunicate William king of Sicily, and refuse his peace which
he offered ? and had not he overcome me in plain field, I would have
shaken him out of his kingdom of Sicily, and dukedom of Apulia !
Also did not I, the said Adrian, control and correct the aforesaid
BUldebrandl. (78) Baptista Egnatius.
« ,,!""''• "'""" N:ll'derus. (80) l'latina, Egnatius, Benno.
[81 1 ...ydc.re Virgil, llistoria Jornalensis de rebus Anglorum,
" ' vcrnacula. (83) Pope Urbanus, Caus. 15. q. fi. c. ' Juratos.'
,,'M' '"I"' '■•'■■• I'.ilis I'msulanus. Platina. Vincentius, Stella, Antoninus, Mattheus Parisiensis,
T' . 'v ",ls ; Popa CaM3ttu* "• Plat, de vitis pnntificum. ',85) Pope Innocentius II.
(87) Pope Alexander III. de spousal, et matr. c. ' Non est.'
-i Vm,h, ,,;. .„!,, Horn, pontifieum. (80) Pope Adrian, vit. Horn, pontincum.
ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD, 151
Frederic, emperor, for holding the left stirrup of my horse, when lie Eccinsias-
should have holden the right ? 9I And afterwards, did not I excom- mulry.
municate and curse him, for that he was so saucy to set his own
name in writing before mine? 92and, although a poor fly afterwards
overcame and strangled me, yet I made kings and emperors to
stoop ! 93Did not I, Innocent III., deject Philip, brother to Fre-
deric, from the imperial crown, being elected without my leave, and
after set him up again ? and also set up Otho of Brunswick, and
after did excommunicate and also depose the same four years,
setting up the French king to war against him ? 94Then was
Frederic II. set up by me, and reigned thirty-seven years ; and yet,
five years before he died, 95did not I, Honorius, interdict him, for
not restoring certain to their possessions at my request ? 96whom
also Gregory IX. did excommunicate twice together, and raised up
the Venetians against him ; 97and at length Innocent spoiled him of
his empire : after that he caused him to be poisoned, at length to be
strangled by one Manfred, and did excommunicate his son Conrad
after him, not only depriving him of his right inheritance, but also
causing him, with Frederic duke of Austria, to be beheaded ! 98Thus
then did I not excommunicate and depose all these emperors in order ?
Henry IV., Henry V., Frederic I., Philip, Otho IV., Frederic II.,
and Conrad his son ? "Did not I interdict king Henry VIII.,
100 and all his kingdom of England? l01and had not his prudence and
power prevented my practice, I had displaced him from his kingdom
also !
Briefly, who is able to comprehend the greatness of my power and
of my seat ? mfor by me only, general councils take their force and
confirmation ; l03and the interpretation of the said councils, and of all
other causes hard and doubtful, ought to be referred and stand to
my determination. 104By me the works of all writers, whatsoever
they be, be either reproved or allowed: 105then how much more
ought my writings and decrees to be preferred before all others,
106 insomuch that my letters and epistles decretal be equivalent with
general councils. lo7And whereas God hath ordained all causes of
men to be judged by men, he hath only reserved me, that is, the
pope of Rome, without all question of men, unto his own judg-
ment. 108And therefore, where all other creatures be under their
judge, only I, who in earth am the judge of all, can bejudgedbynone,
neither of emperor, nor of the whole clergy, nor of kings, nor of
the people : 109for who hath power to judge upon his judge ? I10This
judge am I, and that alone, without any other resistance of any
council joined to me. For I have power upon councils : councils
have no power upon me. But if the council determine amiss, it is
in my authority alone to infringe it, or to condemn whom I lust,
without any council ; U1and all for the pre-eminence of my predc-
(91) Bulla Adriani contra Ca:sarem. (92) Acta Ro. pont.
(93) Pope Innocentius III. Ex vitiset Actis Rom. pontificum. Kx Ab. Ursperg.
(9-t) Ex eodem. (9.5) Pope Honor. III. Ex Mario. (»G) Pope Greg. IX. Ex eodem.
(97) Pope Innocent IV. Hieronymus Marius. Petrus de Vincis. 38) Ex Chronic. Carionis.
(99) Hist. Anglorum. (100) Ibidem. (101) Ibidem.
(102) Pope Marcellus, dist. 17. c. ' Synodum.' (103) Dist. 20. Decrctales.
(104) Pope Nlcolaus, (list. 19. 'Si Romanorum." (105) Ibidem.
(100) Dist. 20. Decietales. (107) Symmachus Pope, it. q 8. ' Aliorum.'
(108) Pope Innocentius VI. q. 3. c. ' Nemo.' (109) Ibidem.
(110) Pope Gelasius IX. q. 3. c. ' Cuncta. (HI) Ibid.
152 THE IMAGE OF ANTICHRIST, EXALTING HIMSELF
Ecdesiai- ccssor blessed St. Peter, which, by the voice of the Lord he received,
nutlry. and ever shall retain.
mFurthermore, and whereas all other sentences and judgments, both
of councils, person, or persons, may and ought to be examined, 113for
that they may be corrupted four ways, by fear, by gifts, by hatred,
by favour; only my sentence and judgment must stand, n,*as given
out of heaven by the mouth of Peter himself, which no man must
115 break, nor retract; 116no man must dispute or doubt of. mYea, if
my judgment, statute, or yoke, seem scarcely tolerable, yet for re-
membrance of St. Peter, it must be humbly obeyed. mYea, and
moreover, obedience is to be given, not only to such decrees set forth
by me in time of my popedom, but also to such as I do foresee and
commit to writing before I be pope. 119And although it be thought
by some writers, to be given to all men to err, and to be deceived,
120 yet neither am I a pure man. 121And again, the sentence of my
apostolic seat is always conceived with such moderation, is concocted
and digested with such patience and ripeness, and delivered out with
such gravity of deliberation, that nothing is thought in it necessary
to be altered or retracted. 122 Wherefore it is manifest, and testified
by the voice of holy bishops, that the dignity of this my seat is to be
reverenced through the whole world, in that all the faithful submit
themselves to it, as to the head of the whole body, ,23 whereof it is
spoken to me by the prophet, speaking of the ark : " If this be
humbled, whither shall vou run for succour, and where shall your
glory become ?"
Seeing then this is so, that holy bishops and scriptures do so wit-
ness with me, what shall we say then to such as will take upon them to
judge of my doings, to reprehend my proceedings, or to require homage
and tribute of me, to whom all others are subject ? 124 Against
the first sort, the Scripture speaketh in Deuteronomy, " Thou
oughtest not to put thy scythe into another man's corn C which thing
to attempt against me, what is it but plain sacrilege 125 according to
my canonists ? who thus define sacrilege to consist in three things :
either when a man judgeth of his prince's judgment ; or when the
holy-day is profaned ; or when reverence is not given to laws and
canons.
126 Against the second sort maketh the place of the book of Kings,
where we read the ark of God was brought from Gaba to Jerusalem ;
and, in the way, the ark inclining by reason of the unruly oxen, Ozias
the Levite put to his hand to help, and therefore was stricken of the
Lord. By this ark is signified the prelates; by the inclination
thereof, the fall of prelates; 127who also be signified by the angels
that Jacob did see going up and coming down the ladder ; 128also by
tlie prophet, where he saith, " He bowed down the heavens and came
down,1-1 &c. By Ozias, and by the unruly oxen are meant our sub-
lccts. l29Then, like as Ozias was stricken for putting his hand to
(112) Anastasius Patriarch. D. q. 3. c. ' Antiquis.' (113) Pope Greg. a. q. 3. c. ' Quatuor.'
"*) Pope Agatho Dist. 19. c. ' Sic omncs.' (115) Pope Nicholas, 0. q. 3. ' Patet.'
(118) Pope Innocenl II. Art. 17. q. I. 'Siquis.' (117) Dist. 19. c. ' In memoriam.'
(118) Bext. Decret. Tit, 7. Detenunciat. Quoniatn Glossa, (119) Oilic. lib. 1.
ISO oiotia Extra. lie veil), sifiuif. c. 'A<1.' (121) Pope Greg. Cans. 35. q. 9. ' Apostolica-.'
It S\ !„,„• Sym,u;,<l,us. Cans. 9. q. 3. ' Aliorum.* (123) Ibid.
(184) FopeGreg VI. ,, 8, • Seriptum est.' (125) Caus. 17. q.4. Kamleg. Glossa.
fl -'• <l 7. C. Plierumqua GlnsM-ina Gratiani. Item. (127) Ibid (123) Ibid.
(IJH) Ibid.
AUOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD. 155
the ark inclining, no more must subjects rebuke their prelates going F.ccusiai-
awry : l30albeit, here may be answered again, that all be not prelates msttry.
who so be called ; for it is not the name that maketh a bishop, but
his life.
131 Against the third sort, of such as would bring us under the tri-
bute and exactions of secular men, maketh the New Testament, where
Peter was bid to give the groat in the fish's mouth, but not the head
nor the body of the fish. No more is the head or body of the
church subdued to kings, but only that which is in the mouth ; that
is, the extern things of the church. And yet not they neither;
,32for so we read in the book of Genesis, that Pharaoh, in time of
dearth, subdued all the land of the Egyptians ; but yet he ministered
to the priests, so that he neither took their possessions from them,
nor their liberty.
If then the prelates of the church must be neither judged, nor re-
prehended, nor exacted, how much more ought I to be free from the
same, 133who am the bishop of bishops, and head of prelates ? 134For
it is not to be thought that the case betwixt me and other prelates ;
betwixt my see and other churches, be like ; 135 although the whole
catholic and apostolic church make one bride-chamber of Christ, yet
the catholic and apostolic church of Rome had the pre-eminence given
over all others by the mouth of the Lord himself, saying to Peter,
" Thou art Peter," &c.
136 Thus a discretion and difference must be had in the church as it
was betwixt Aaron and his children ; 137 betwixt the seventy-two dis-
ciples, and the twelve apostles ; betwixt the other apostles and
Peter. ,38 Wherefore it is to be concluded, that there must be an
order and difference of degrees in the church betwixt power superior
and inferior ; without which order the university of the whole cannot
consist. 139For as amongst the angelical creatures above in heaven
there is set a difference and inequality of powers and orders, some be
angels, some archangels, some cherubim and seraphim: 140so in the
ecclesiastical hierarchy of the church militant on the earth, priests must
not be equal with bishops, bishops must not be like in order with arch-
bishops, or with patriarchs or primates, 141who contain under them three
archbishops, as a king contain eth three dukes under him ; in which
number of patriarchs cometh also in, the state of 142 cardinals or princi-
pals, so called, because as the door turneth by his hinges, so the univer-
sal church ought to be ruled by them. 143The next and highest order
above these is mine, who am pope, differing in power and majority,
and honour reverential, from these and all other degrees of men :
144for the better declaration whereof, my canonists make three kinds
of power in earth ; ' immediate,1 which is mine immediately from
God ; ' derivata,' which bclongeth to other inferior prelates from me ;
145 ' ministralis,1 belonging to emperors and princes to minister for me,
For which cause the anointing of princes, and my consecration, do
differ ; for they are anointed only in the arms or shoulders, and I in
(130) Ibid. Hisita. (131) Pope Urbanus 23. q. 'Tributum.'
(132) Ibidem. ' Quamvis.' (133) Pope lienedict. Extr. Oc ant. et nsu. pallii. c. 'Sancta.'
(134) Pope Stephanus. dist. 19. ' Enim vero.' (135) Pope PelaglM (list. 21. ' Quamvis.'
(136) Dist. 21. Decretia. (137) Pope Anaclet. dist. 22. ' In novo.'
(138) Pope Bonifacius et Grep. Dist. 89. ' Ad hoc' (189) [bid. (HO) (list. 89. c. 'Singula.'
(141) Ex citatione Flu: oecre. 5. ser. 3. ( 1 1-') De officio Arcliipvxsbyt. in Glossa.
(M3) 143 •*• (144) Ex 3. parte Sunima? majoris b. Antonini.
(145) Pope Innocent III. De sacra unctione, 'Qui veniiut.'
154 THE IMAGE OF ANTICHRIST, EXALTING HIMSELF
Bcdesias- the head, to signify the difference of power betwixt princes and
tical
Hutnry. me.
,4(iThis order, therefore, of priests, bishops, archbishops, patriarchs,
and others, as a thing most convenient, my church of Rome hath set
and instituted through all churches, following therein, not only the
example of the angelical army in heaven, but also of the apostles :
117 for amongst them, also, there was not a uniform equality or insti-
tution of one degree, 148but a diversity or distinction of authority and
power. Albeit they were all apostles together, yet it was granted
notwithstanding to Peter (themselves also agreeing to the same), that
he should bear dominion and superiority over all the other apostles ;
149 and therefore he had his name given him Cephas, that is, head or
beginning of the apostlehood. 15' Whereupon the order of the priest-
hood first in the New Testament began in Peter, to whom it was said,
" Thou art Peter, and upon thee I will build my church ; 151and I will
give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and thou being converted
confirm thy brethren. 152I have prayed for thee that thy faith shall not
fail." Wherefore seeing such power is given to Peter, 153and to me in
Peter, being his successor, 134who is he then in all the world that ought
not to be subject to my decrees, which have such power in heaven,
in hell, in earth, with the quick and also the dead ? 155 commanding
and granting in my bull of lead, sent to Vienna, unto all such as died
in their peregrination to Rome, that the pain of hell should not touch
them : and also, that all such as took the holy cross upon them, should
every one at his request, not only be delivered himself, but also de-
liver three or four souls, whomsoever he would, out of purgatory.
156Again, having such promise and assurance that my faith shall not
fail, who then will not believe my doctrine ? for did not Christ him-
self first pray for Peter, that his faith should not fail? 157Also have
I not a sure promise of Paul's own mouth, writing to my church
scripture in these words : "God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit, in the
lUieii'and gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always
cierk! in my prayers ?" [Rom. i.] 158 Wherefore, as I condemn all such
worthily, who will not obey my decrees, to be dispossessed of all their
honour without restitution ; ,59so all they that believe not my doc-
trine, or who stand against the privilege of the church, especially the
church of Rome, I pronounce them heretics ; 160and as the other
before is to be called unjust, so this man is to be called a heretic.
161 For why? hegoeth against the faith, who goeth against her who is
the mother of faith.
102 But here may arise, percase, a doubt or scruple, that if my faith
and knowledge stand so sure by the promise of Christ, and by the
continual prayer of St. Paul ; whether is it true, or is it to be granted,
that any other should excel me in knowledge, or interpretation of
holy Scripture ? 163for look, whose knowledge is grounded on most
fl«) P. Nicholas, Dist. 22. c. ' Onirics.' (147) P. Clement, Dist. 80. c. ' In illis.'
(I4H) 1'. Anacletus Dist. 22. c. ' Sacrosancta.'
(M9| Ibidem. Uuasi vero Petrus non a Petra, Bed Kt'^ar aVo t^ HtQuw ducatur
[1801 DUt. 21. c. 'In novo.' (151) Ibid. (152) Dist. 21. c. Decrctls.
(.-..) ope 1-co dist. 19. c. ' Ita Dominus.' (154) P. Nicholaus in tantum, dist. 22.
IIM1 ( lemeils, in Bulla Vienna: in scriniis privilegiorum. (15(1) Dist. 21. c. ' Decretis.'
(157) Pope Anacletus, dist. 22. c. • Sacrosancta.'
(158) Pope Damasus. 25. <i. c. •Omnia.' Item Pope Greg. Dist. 19. Null.
( ..») I Nicola, 18 l>U. 22. e. 'Omncs.' (160) Ibid. (Hill ibid
(161) Dim. SO. Deerttales. (I(i3) Ibid
ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD. 155
reason, his words should seem to be of more authority. l64 Where- JtocietUu-
unto I answer and grant, that many there be, and have been more uuu>ry.
abundantly endued with fuller grace of the Holy Ghost and greater —
excellency of knowledge ; and therefore that the tractations of
Augustine, Jerome, and others, ought to be preferred before the con-
stitutions of divers popes. Yet, I say, in determination of causes,
because they have not the virtue and height of that authority which is
given to me, therefore in expounding of Scriptures, they are to be
preferred ; but in deciding of matters they stand inferior to my autho-
rity : by virtue of which authority, ,66both they themselves be allowed
for doctors, and their works approved, and also all other matters be
ruled, through the power of the keys, which is given to me imme-
diately of Christ.
Although I deny not but the same keys, be also committed to
other prelates, as they were to other apostles besides Peter, 166yet it
is one thing to have the keys, another thing to have the use of the
keys. 167 Wherefore here is to be noted a distinction of keys, after
the mind of my school-doctors ; one key which is called ' Clavis or-
dinis,1 having authority to bind and loose, but not over the persons
whom they bind and loose ; and this authority they take not imme-
diately of Christ, but mediately by me the vicar of Christ. The other
key is called ' Clavis jurisdictionis,"' which I the vicar of Christ take
immediately of him, having not only authority to bind and loose, but
also dominion over them on whom this key is exercised. By the
jurisdiction of which key the fulness of my power is so great, that
whereas all others are subjects, 168yea and emperors themselves, ought
to subdue their executions tome; only I am a subject to no creature,
l69no, not to myself, except I list ; ' in foro pcenitentiee,' to my ghostly
father submitting myself as a sinner, but not as pope ; so that my
papal majesty ever remaineth unminished ; superior to all men ;
170 whom all persons ought to obey, 17,and follow, mwhom no man
must judge or accuse of any crime, either of murder, adidtery, simony,
or such like ; 173no man depose, but I myself. 174No man can excom-
municate me, yea though I communicate with the excommunicated,
for no canon bindeth me : whom no man must lie to, 175for he that
lieth to me is a church robber, ,76and who obeyeth not me, is a
heretic, and an excommunicated person. 177For, like as all the Jews
were commanded to obey the high priest of the Levitical order, o.
what state or condition soever they were, so are all christian men more
and less bound to obey me, Christ's lieutenant on earth: concerning
the obedience or disobedience of whom ye have in Deut. xvii. ;
178where the common gloss saith, that he who denieth to the high
priest ' obedientiam,1 lieth under the sentence of condemnation, as
much as he that denieth to God his 'omnipotentiam.''
Thus then it appeareth, that the greatness of my priesthood
179 began in Melchisedec, was solemnized in Aaron, continued in the
(164) Dist. 20. Decretales. (165) Dist. 19. 'Si Romanorum.'
(166) Gabriel Biel, lib. iv. Dist. 19. (167) Petrus de Palude.
(168) Dist. 95. c. ' Imperator.' (169) Gabriel, lib. iv. Dist. 19.
(170) P. Nicholaus Dist. 19 c. 'Si Romanorum in Glossa.' (171) Item 24. q. 1. Hacc est.
(172) Dist. 40, c. 'Si Papa.' (173) 2. q. 7. ' Nos si * in Glossa.
(174) Extravap;. de. elect. Innotuit. (175) De panitentia, dist. I. c. 'Serpens 'in Glossa.
(176) Dist. 19. c. ' Nulli." (177) August, de Ancho. (178) Glossa 'Ordinaris.*
(179) Antoninus.
]56 THE IMAGE OF ANTICHRIST, EXALTING HIMSELF
Ecderia,- children of Aaron, perfcctionated in Christ, represented in Peter,
n'iZ'r exalted in the universal jurisdiction, and manifested in Silvester, &c.
— So that through this pre-eminence of my priesthood, having all things
subject to me, 180it may seem well verified in me that was spoken of
Christ [Psalm viii.], "Omnia subjecisti sub pedibus ejus, oves et boves,
it universa pecora campi ; volucres cceli et pisces maris,11 &c. i.e.
" Thou hast subdued all things under his feet, sheep and oxen, and
all cattle of the field, the birds of heaven, and fish of the sea,11 &c. ;
181 where it is to be noted, that by oxen, Jews and heretics ; by cattle
of the field, Pagans be signified. For although as yet they be out
of the use of my keys of binding and loosing, yet they be not out
of the jurisdiction of my keys, but if they return, I may absolve
them. ,82By sheep and all cattle, are meant all christian men both
great and less, whether they be emperors, princes, prelates, or others.
Iiy birds of the air you may understand the angels and potestates of
heaven, who be all subject to me, in that I am greater than the
angels ; and that in four things, as is afore declared ; and have power
to bind and loose in heaven, ,83and to give heaven to them that fight
in my wars. 184 Lastly, by the fishes of the sea, are signified the
souls departed in pain or in purgatory, as Gregory, by his prayer,
delivered the soul of Trajan out of hell, and I have power to deliver
out of purgatory whom I please. 185 Lastly, by the fishes of the sea,
arc signified such as be in purgatory, insomuch that they stand in
need and necessity of other men's help, and yet be in their journey
Antoni- ' viatores, et de foro pape,1 that is, passengers and belonging to the
August, court of the pope : therefore they may be relieved out of the store-
('!,';oA£-h house of the church, by the participation of indulgence. And for-
i>art4. asmuch as some do object that my pardons cannot extend to them
that be departed, for that it was said to Peter, " Whatsoever thou
shalt loose upon earth ;" and therefore seeing they are not upon earth,
they cannot be loosed of me : here I answer again by my doctors, that
this word ' super terrain,1 &c. i.e. 'upon the earth,1 may be referred
two manner of ways ; first to him that is the looser, so that he who
shall loose, shall be upon the earth ; and so I grant that the pope
being dead, can loose no man. Also it may be referred to him that
is loosed, so that whosoever is loosed, must be upon the earth, or
about the earth ; and so the souls in purgatory may be loosed, which
albeit they are not upon the earth, yet they are about the earth : at
least they be not in heaven.
August. And because ofttimes one question may rise upon another, and
,:, the heads of men now-a-days are curious, a man hearing now that I
*"JjJ|j can deliver out of purgatory, will ask here a question, whether I be able
totum also to empty all purgatory at once, or not ? To whom my canonist
riumex- Augustine doth answer by a triple distinction: " Quantum ad abso-
Abtoiuta hitam mcam jurisdictionem, quantum ad ordinatam executioncm,
ilo^Doc Mua,num :i(l divinam acceptationem.11 First, touching my absolute
ton agree jurisdiction, he saith, I am able to rid out all purgatory together,
i"r'"rM for as many as be under my jurisdiction, as all be, except only
dr'Ai?'' 'n^:uits unbaptized 'in limbo,1 and men departed only, 'cum bap-
tisino Baminis,1 that is, with the baptism of the Spirit/ and such as
loiiinus.
tOHlnUl, Summ.T majoris 8. part, Pist. 22. .(1S1) Ibid.
1182) ibid. (188) 88 q. c. ' Omnium.' (184) Idem Antoninus in Ibid. (185) Ibid.
ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD. 157
have no friends to do for them that, whcrc-for pardons be given, these Eccienut-
only excepted. For all others besides, the pope (he saith) hath power a&toy.
to release all purgatory at once, as touching his absolute jurisdiction :
albeit Thomas Aquinas (part iv.) denieth the same, forasmuch as
Christ himself (he saith) when he came down, did not utterly at
once release all purgatory. As touching my ordinary execution they ordinata
hold, that I may if I will, but I ought not to do it. Thirdly, as gggS"
concerning the divine acceptation, that is, How God would accept it a.cccPta-
if I did it, that (they say) is unknown unto them, and to every
creature, yea, and to the pope himself.
And to the intent I would all men to see and understand that I
lack not more witnesses besides these, if I list to bring them out,
you shall hear the whole choir of my divine clergy brought out,
with a full voice testifying in my behalf, in their books, tractations,
distinctions, titles, glosses, and summaries, as by then- own words
here followeth.aa The pope (say they), being the vicar of Jesu
Christ through the whole world, instead of the living God, hath
that dominion and lordship which Christ here in earth would not
have, although he had it ' in habitu,1 but gave it to Peter ' in actu ;'
that is, the universal jurisdiction both of spiritual things, and also of
temporal : which double jurisdiction was signified by the two swords
in the gospel, and also by the offering of the wise men, who offered
not only incense, but also gold; to signify not only the spiritual
dominion, but also the temporal, to belong to Christ and to his vicar.
For, as we read, "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof;1'' and
as Christ saith, "All power is given to him both in heaven and earth:1'
so it is to be affirmed inclusive, that the vicar of Christ hath power on
things celestial, terrestrial, and infernal ; which he took immediately
of Christ : all others take it immediately by Peter and the pope.
Wherefore such as say that the pope hath dominion only of spiritual
things in the world, and not of temporal, may be likened to the coun-
sellors of the king of Syria [1 Kings xx.], who said, " The gods of the
mountains be their gods, and therefore they have overcome us ; but
let us fight against them in the low meadows, and in valleys where
they have no power, and so we shall prevail over them.1'' So evil
counsellors now-a-days, through their pestiferous flattery, deceive
kings and princes of the earth, saying : " Popes and prelates be
(aa) An Alphabetical List of the Authorities here alluded to.
Antonin. in Summulis. Caspar. Ockam in dialogo, parte 1 lib. v.
Augustinus de Ancho in Deere, (iratianus in Decretis. Oytanus.
Astesanus Midorita Gerson, doctor illuminatissimus
ecclesiastica postestate. Petrus de Palude.
Baptista de Salvin. sua. Petrus de Tharam.
Baptistiniana. Hugo Cardinalis in postilla. Petrus de Aliaco.
Bonaventura. Hostiensis. Panormitanus Alexander de
Holkot. Alex.
Campensis, lib. controversiarum. Hosius.
Coelstu. Raymundus in summa de ess
Johannes Andrea. sibus.
Durandus in speculo. Innocentius. Richardus.
Dreido. de eccle. Scripturis et Johan. de Turre Cremata de Babanus, sup. Mat. cau. xvi.
dogmat. ecclesia summa. Uupertus Tuitiensis.
Edwardus Pevcllus,Anglus, con- I.anfrancus contra Wiclif. Scotua doctor subtilis.
tra Luthe. Lilius Historicum Anglus.
Erhius in Enchir. Lapus. Thomas Aquin.
Laurentius.
Franciscus. Ulricus.
Fnlgo. Magister sententiarum.
Waldenus, ronfessionate, et de
Gabriel. Biel. Spica. Nicolaus. Sacramentis.
158 THE IMAGE OF ANTICHRIST, EXALTING HIMSELF
EccUsias. gods of mountains, that is, of spiritual things only, but they be not
Hutl'r aods of valleys ; that is, they have no dominion over temporal
things, and therefore let us fight with them in the valleys, that is,
in the power of the temporal possessions, and so we shall prevail over
them." But let us hear what saith the sentence of God to them.
" Because," saith he, " the Syrians say that the god of mountains
is their god, and not the god of valleys, therefore I will give all this
multitude into your hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord."
What can be more effectually spoken to set forth the majesty of
my jurisdiction, which I received immediately of the Lord ? of the
Lord, I say, and of no man. For, whereas Constantine the emperor
gave to Silvester, enduing him with this possession and patrimony ;
that is so to be expounded and taken not so much for a donation,
as to be counted for a restitution made of that which tyrannously
was taken from him before.
And again : whereas I have given at sundry times to Ludovicus and
other emperors, of my temporal lands and possessions, yet that was
done not so much for any recognising of homage to them, as for keep-
ing peace with them : for I owe to emperors no due obedience that
they can claim ; but they owe to me, as to their superior ; and, there-
fore, for a diversity betwixt their degree and mine, in their consecra-
tion they take the unction on their arm, I on the head. And as I am
superior to them, so am I superior to all laws, and free from all con-
stitutions ; who am able of myself, and by my interpretation, to pre-
fer equity not being written, before the law written ; having all laws
within the chest of my breast, as is aforesaid. And whatsoever this my
sec shall enact, approve, or disprove, all men ought to approve or re-
prove the same, without either judging, disputing, doubting, orretracting.
Such is the privilege given of Christ, in the behalf of Peter, to the
church of Rome, l86 that what country soever, kingdom, or province,
choosing to themselves bishops and ministers, although they agree
with all other Christ's faithful people in the name of Jesu, that is, in
faith and charity, believing in the same God, and in Christ, his true
Son, and in the Holy Ghost ; having also the same creed, the same
evangelists and scriptures of the apostles : yet, notwithstanding,
unless their bishops and ministers take their origin and ordination
from this apostolic seat, they are to be counted not of the church ; so
that succession of faith only, is not sufficient to make a church, except
the ministers take their ordination by them who have their succession
from the apostles. So their faith, supremacy, the chair of Peter,
keys of heaven, power to bind and loose, all these be inseparable to
the church of Rome : so that it is to be presumed, that God always
providing, and St. Peter helping the bishopric and diocese of Rome,
it shall never fall from the faith.
And likewise it is to be presumed and presupposed that the bishop
of that church is always good and holy. Yea, and though he be not
always good, or be destitute of his own merits, yet the merits of St.
Peter, predecessor of that place, be sufficient for him, who hath
bequeathed and left a perpetual dowry of merits, with inheritance of
innocency, to his posterity. 187Yea, though he fall into homicide or
(186) Johan. Driedo. De dogmatibus variis, 1. 4.
(187) IIuko, in glossa dist. 40. c. • Non Not/
ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD. 159
adultery, he may sin, but yet he cannot be accused, but rather ex- BecietUu-
cuscd by the murders of Samson, the thefts of the Hebrews, the i/'Z',,,.
adultery of Jacob. 188And likewise, if any of his clergy should be
found embracing a woman, it must be expounded and "presupposed
that he doth it to bless her.
Furthermore, the pope (say they) hath all the dignities, and all
power of all patriarchs. In his primacy, he is Abel ; in government,
the ark of Noah ; in patriarchdom, Abraham ; in order, Melchisedec ;
in dignity, Aaron ; in authority, Moses ; in scat judicial, Samuel ; in Kay, thou
zeal, Elias; in meekness, David; in power, Peter; in unction, ^daYf
Christ. My power (they say) is greater than all the saints ; for whom
I confirm, no man may infirm : I may favour and spare whom I
please, ,89to take from one and to give to another. And if I be
enemy to any man, all men ought to eschew that person forthwith,
and not tarry and look while I bid them so to do.
All the earth is my diocese ; and I the ordinary of all men,
having the authority of the King of all kings upon subjects. I am
all in all, and above all, ,90so that God himself, and I the vicar of God,
have both one consistory, ,91and I am able to do almost all that God
can do, ' clave non errante V 192Item, It is said of me that I have
a heavenly arbitrement, and therefore am able to change the nature
of things, ' substantialia unius applicando alteri,' and of nothing to
make things to be ; and of a sentence that is nothing, to make it
stand in effect ; in all things that I list, my will to stand for reason :
for I am able by the law to dispense above the law, and of wrong to
make justice, in correcting laws and changing them.
You have heard hitherto sufficiently out of my doctors. Now
you shall hear greater things out of mine own decrees.193 Read there
dist. 96. 'Satis.1 194Also 12. Caus. 11. q. Leap. ' Sacerdotibus/
195 Also 12. q. 1. cap. ' Futuram."' Do you not find there expressed,
how Constantine the emperor, sitting in the general council at Nice,
called us prelates of the church, all gods ? 196 Again, read my canon
decretal, De transl. episc. cap. ' Quanto.' Do you not see there
manifestly expressed, how not man, but God alone separateth that
which the bishop of Rome doth dissolve and separate ? Wherefore,
if those things that I do, be said to be done not of man, but of God ;
what can you make me but God .?aa Again, if prelates of the church
be called and counted of Constantine for gods, I then, being above all
prelates, seem by this reason to be above all gods. Wherefore no
marvel, if it be in my power to change time and times, to alter and
abrogate laws, to dispense with all things, yea with the precepts of
Christ : for, where Christ biddeth Peter put up his sword, and admo-
nished his disciples not to use any outward force in revenging them-
selves, ,97do not I, Pope Nicholas, writing to the bishops of France,
exhort them to draw out their material swords in pursuing their
enemies, and recovering their possessions ; setting against the precept
(188) Gloss, in caus. 11. q. 3. c. * Absis.' (189) Gloss, in c. 11. q. 3. 'Si inimicus.'
(190) Hostiensis in c. ' Quanto de transl. praeb.' (191) Ex summa casuum fratris Baptista.
(192) Ex Citatione Henr. Bulling, de fine Seculi. orat. prima. Item, ex Citatione Jacobi An-
dreae, adversus Hossum, lib. v. Item, ex Citatione Jer. Marii in actis, 2 Divi.
(193) Pope Nicolaus Dist. 96. c. Satis. (194) 11. q. '.1. 'Sacerdotibus.'
(195) 12. q. 1. ' Futurum.' (196) Decretal, de Transl. Epist. c. ' Quanto.'
(aa) Thus you may see it verified, that St. Paul prophesieth of the adversary sitting in the
temple as God, and boasting himself above all that is named God, 4c. 2 Thess. ii.
(197) Pope Nicolaus, Causa 15, q. 6. c. ' Autoritatem.'
16() THE IMAGE OF ANTICHRIST, EXALTING HIMSELF
Swarf*- of Christ, the prophet saying, " Dissolve colligationes impietatis li
Heal K
Hisioru. «C i-i-i • n
Item, whereas Christ was present himself at the marriage in Oana
of Galilee, 198do not I, pope Martin, in my distinction, inhibit the
spiritual clergy to be present at marriage-feasts, and also to marry
themselves ? Item, where matrimony, by Christ, cannot be loosed but
only for whoredom, 199do not I, pope Gregory junior, writing to Bo-
niface, permit the same to be broken for impotency or infirmity of
body ? 200Item, against the express caution of the gospel, do not I,
Innocent IV., permit ' vim vi repellere?"' 201 Likewise, against the
Old Testament, I do dispense in not giving tithes. 202Item, against
the New Testament in swearing, and that in these six causes, 203Pax,
fama, fides, reverentia, cautio damni, defectus veri, poscunt sibi magna
caveri ; wherein two kinds of oaths are to be noted, whereof some be
' promissoria,1 some be ' assertoria,"1 &c. 304Item, in vows, and that
' ex toto voto,1 whereas other prelates cannot dispense ' ex toto a
voto,' I can deliver ' ex toto a voto,' like God himself. 205Item, in
perjury if I absolve, my absolution standeth : 206where also note, that
in all swearing, always the authority of the superior is excepted.
207Moreover, where Christ biddeth to lend without hope of gain, do not
I, pope Martin, give dispensation for- the same ? and notwithstanding
the council of Thuron enacted the contrary, yet with two bulls I
disannulled that decreement !
2,8 What should I speak of murder, making it no murder nor homi-
cide to slay them that be excommunicated ? 209 likewise against the
law of nature ; 210item, against the apostles : 2Ualso against the canons
of the apostles, I can and do dispense ; for where they, in their canon,
command a priest for fornication to be deposed, I, through the
authority of Silvester, do alter the rigour of that constitution, 212 con-
sidering the minds and bodies also of men now to be weaker than
they were then.
213 Briefly, against the universal state of the church I have dispen-
sation, " scilicet quando status ecclesise non decoloratur ;" and for
marriage in the second degree of consanguinity and infinity; "in col-
lateralibus sequali linea;" that is, between the brethren's children,
although not ' ineequali linea,'' so that the uncle may not marry his
niece, unless for an urgent and weighty cause. As for all such
contracts betwixt party and party, where matrimony is not yet
consummated by carnal connexion, it is but a small matter for me
to dispense withal.
In summa : if ye list briefly to hear the whole number of all such
cases as properly do appertain to my papal dispensation, which come
to the number of one and fifty points, that no man may meddle
(198) Pope Martin Dist. 14. c. ' Lector.'
(199) Pope Greg. Junior, 3?. q. 7. c. 'Quod proposuisti.'
(200) Pope Inno. IV. Sect. Decret. desententia excoin. c. ' Dilecto.'
(201) Pope Alexander III., De decimis, c. ' Ex parte.'
(202) Pope Nicolaus, 15. q. 6. ' Autoritatem.'
De elect, et elect, potestate. Signifkasti in Glossa.
■ '■ s.ilis, lii Summa ciMium ex Panornvitano
(205) Pope I lino. IV. De elect. Venerabilem.
(206] Ext De Jure-Jurando cap. Venientes. Item Dist. De Klect. Siguiftcasti in Glossa.
(20i Pop Minimis V. Extra, c. ' Hegimini Universalis Ecclesise.'
(208) Pope Urbanut 11. Cans. 28. q. 5. c. ' Excommunicatorum.'
ipe Nicolaus, cnus. 15. q. G. ' Autoritatem.' ^.210) Ibid.
(211) Di-i ,82 I Pnubyter. (212) Pope Pelagius, Dist. 31. c. ' Fraternitatis
(213) Baptista de Salis, fol. •
licul
Hittory.
ABOVE al:. THAT IS CALLED ecu. |(j I
withal but only I myself alone, I will recite them first in Latin, then £«■/,„•«.
in English, as they be set forth in my canonical doctors.
Casus Papalcs LI. apud Fratrem Astcsanum, sive de Ast. Doctorcm
soleiunem in suinma confessionis. Item apud llostienscm, de
offic. legal, reperti ct his versibus comprehensi.
Si sit catholicus, Papain non judicat ullus.
Erigit et subdit cathedraa ; dividit, unit,
i.e. votum terra: siuclce. i.e. degradatos. I.e. episcopos et alios.
Mutat vota crucis. Restituit. Eximit. Ad se
Majores causae rei'eruntur. Legitimatque,
i.e. insujftcicntes. i.e. intrantes religionem.
Promovet, appellare vetat, prohibet profiteri.
i.e. defectum regi vacante regno
Deponit, fcransfert, suppletque, renunciat illi
Symonia, juramentum, excommunicato a Papa facta'
Prassul, et exemptus. Simon, jurans, anathema,
tarn Papa quam legati.
Vel proprium, vel legati, vel lex utriusque.
i.e. sulvitur Papa.
Turn neque participans : etsi quern sponte salutat,
Quern canon damnat, sibi soli quando reservat,
qui irrcyularitatcm incur) it.
Solvitur a Papa nee non quern regula damnat.
scilicet, addas.
Addas suspensum, causam, cum fertur ad ipsum.
i.e. Addas. i.e. Piuralitalem beneficiorum.
Rescriptum, fidei dubium : confert bona plura.
Irritat infectum, legem condit generalem.
i.e. Impcratorcm.
Approbat imperium, finnat, deponit, et ungit.
canonizat.
Concilium generale facit. Sacrat quoque sanctos.
de aliquo facit nihil, de nihilo aliquid.
Ens non esse facit : non ens, fore. Pallia semper
Portat. Concedit, legi non subjacet ulli.
i.e. immediate.
Appellatur ad hunc medio sine, judiciumque
De monaclto non monachum facit.
Est pro lege suum. Monachum rcvocat renuentem.
i.e. incestum, fyc.
Majus adulterio solvit generaliter; arctat
i.e. impedimentum matrimoniale.
Et laxat quiquid sponsis nocet. Ordinat extra
i.e. extra 4. tempora.
Tempore dando sacrum; promotum promovet idem.
Ordinat atque die qua consecratur et ipse.
i.e. sacerdolium confert nondum vacant.
Viventisque locum concedit, jureque privat.
Insignia Episcopalia concedit. i.e. decimis eximit. i.e. piabytero,
concedit infantes ungcrc.
Insignit. Laico sacra donat; chrisma ministro.
Suinma sede sedet, plenusque vicarius extat.
Si sit catholicus Papain non judicat ullus.
vol v
J (J2 THE IMAGE OF ANTICHRIST, EXALTING HIJISELF
Eccu,ias- Cases Papal, to the number of one and fifty, wherein the Pope only
mdor hath power to dispense, and none else besides, except by special
license from him.
First : the determination of doubts and questions belonging to faith. a
Translation ofa bishop, elect or confirmed : likewise of abbots exempted.1*
Deposition of bishops.c
The taking of resignation of bishops.d
Exemptions of bishops, not to be under archbishops.*5
Restitution of such as be deposed from their order.f
The judicial definition, or interpretation of his own privileges^
Changing of bishoprics, or dimission of covents, &c. New correction of bishops'
seats, or institution of new religions.11
Subjection or division of one bishopric under another.1
Dispensation for vowing to go to the Holy Land.*
Dispensation for the vow of chastity, or of religion, or of holy orders.1
Dispensation against a lawful oath, or vow made.™
Dispensation against divers irregularities, as in crimes greater than adultery,
and in such as be suspended for simony.n
Dispensation in receiving into orders him that had two wives.0
Dispensing with such as, being within orders, do that which is above their order ;
as if a deacon should say mass, being not yet priest.P
To receive into orders such as be blemished or maimed in body.1
Dispensation for murder, or for such as willingly cut off any member of man's
body.1
Dispensation to give orders to such as have been under the sentence of the
greater curse or excommunication.8
Dispensation for such as being suspended with the greater curse do minister in
any holy order.*
Dispensation for such as be unlawfully born to receive orders or benefices.11
Dispensation for pluralities of benefices.31
Dispensation to make a man bishop, before he be thirty years old.y
Dispensation to give orders under age.z
The pope only hath power to make and call a general council.8*
The pope only hath power to deprive an ecclesiastical person, and give away
his benefice being not vacant.bb
The pope alone is able to absolve him that is excommunicated by name.00
The pope only is able to absolve him, whom his legate doth excommuni-
cate.'1'1
The pope both judgeth in the causes of them that appeal unto him, and where
he judgeth, none may appeal from him.ee
Only he hath authority to make deacon and priest, whom he made subdeacon,
either upon Sundays, or upon other feasts.ff
Only the pope, and none else, at all times, and in all places, weareth the
pall.gg
The pope only dispenseth with a man, either being not within orders, or being
unworthy to be made bishop.nh
He only either confirmeth or deposeth the emperor when he is chosen."
A man being excommunicated, and his absolution referred to the pope, none
may absolve that man but the pope alone.kk
The same hath authority in any election, before it be made, to pronounce it
none, when it is made.11
(a) 24. q. 1. 'Quoties.' (6) Extr. de transl. c. ' Inter.'
(c) 8. q. fi. ' Quamvis.' (rf) 9. q. 3. ' Dewique.' (c) 16. q. 1. ' Frater."
(/) 2. q. 6. ' Idco.' (g) Extr. de rest. ca. ' cum venis.' 7. q. 1. 'temporis.'
(A) 1C. q. 1. '.Felix.' (t) 16. q. 1. « Et Christ.' (ft) Extr. de vota. Ex multa.
(/) Kxtr. de statu Monaclii c. 'Cum ad.' (m) Extr. de juramento c. 'Venientes.'
(n) Extr. dc judicio, c. ' At si clerici.' (o) Extr. de Bigamia, c. 'nuper.'
(p) Kxtr. de clcrico non ord. ministrante. (</) Extr. de corpore vitiatis et di. 55.
(r) l>ist. 50. ' Miror.' (s) Extr. de sententia et excom. c.'cum illorum.'
Ifl Ibid. («) Kxtr. de filiis Presbyt. c. ' Is qui.' {x) Extr. dc Prebend, cap. 'de multa.'
(&) Kxtr. de elect, c. 'Cum nobis.' (z) Extr. de aetate et qualit. generalem.
('ml Dint. 16. per tot. (46) 9. q. 3. Per principale. {cc) De elect, c. ' Venerabilem.'
(dil) Kxtr de officio lcgati, c. 'querenti.' (ec) 9. q. 3. Aliorum.
(//) Extr. de Tempi] online, c. ' Cum indistrib.' (gg) Extr. de usu Pallii. c. *ad honore'"-
(AA) Ext! de elect, c. ' Dudum.' («i) Extr. de elect, c. ' Venerabilem.'
(ft*) Traclntu. de lenturic. {II) Extr. de elect, c. 'Innocuit.'
ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD. \6tt
• He doth canonize saints, and none else but he.mm Eccleiiat-
Uispensation to have many dignities and personages in one church, and without !,cal
charge and cure of soul, belongeth only to the pope.nn
To make that effectual which is of no effect, and contrariwise, belongeth only
to the pope.00
To pluck a monk out of his cloister both against his own will and the abbot's,
pertaineth only to the pope.PP
His sentence maketh a law.0.0*
The same day in which the pope is consecrated, he may give orders."
He dispenseth in degrees of consanguinity and affinity.88
He is able to abolish laws, 'quoad utrumque forum;' that is, both civil and
canon, where danger is of the soul.'1
It is in his dispensation to give general indulgences to certain places or
persons."1*
Item, To legitimate what persons soever he please, as touching spiritualties ; in
all places, as touching temporalties, as honours, inheritance, &c.xx
To erect new religions, to approve or reprove rules or ordinances, and cere-
monies in the church.)'}'
He is able to dispense with all the precepts and statutes of the church. zz
Item, To dispense and to discharge any subject from the bond of allegiance, or
oath made to any manner of person.
No man may accuse him of any crime, unless of heresy ; and that neither, except
he be incorrigible.
The same is also free from all laws, so that he cannot incuraaa into any sentence
of excommunication, suspension, irregularity, or into the penalty of any crime,
but into the note of crime he may well.D0D
Finally he, by his dispensation, may grant, yea, to a simple priest, to minister
the sacrament of confirmation to infants ; also to give lower orders, and to
hallow churches and virgins, Src.ccc
These be the cases wherein I only have power to dispense, and no man else ;
neither bishop, nor metropolitan, nor legate, without a license from me.
After that I have now sufficiently declared my power in earth, in The
heaven, and in purgatory, how great it is, and what is the fulness andpos-
thereof, in binding, loosing, commanding, permitting, electing, con- If*™*
firming, deposing, dispensing, doing and undoing, &c. I will entreat P°Pe-
now a little of my riches likeAvise, and great possessions, that every
man may see, by my wealth and abundance of all things, rents, tithes,
tributes, my silks, my purple mitres, crowns, gold, silver, pearls and
gems, lands and lordships, how God there prospereth and magnifieth
his vicar in the earth. For to me pertaineth first the imperial city
of Rome ; the palace of Lateran ; the kingdom of Sicily is propel to
me, Apulia and Capua be mine. Also the kingdom of England and
Ireland, be they not, or ought they not to be tributaries to me ?*"
To these I adjoin also, besides other provinces and countries both
in the Occident and Orient, from the north to the south, these
dominions by name :215 Soriano, Monte Albodo, Rocca dc Sintra, the
(mm) Extr. de religione et veneratione. Sanct. c. 1. (nn) Extr. de Prebend, c. 'de multa.'
\oo) Extr Qui. si. sin t. leg. c. 'Tanta.'
(pp) 9. q. 3. c. ' Ultimo.' (qq) Extr. de sentent. et re juriic. c. ' in causis.'
(rrt Extr. de elect, cap. ' Quod sicut.' (.%■.%■) Extr. de restit. spo. Literas.
(//) Ext. de prescript, cap. ult. et tie judicio c. ' Novit.' (uu) Thomas.
(.r.r) Extr. Qui si. sint. legit, c. ' Per venerabilem.' (yj) Petrus de Paliide, lib. iv.
(zz) Secundum Tbomam in 4. 7. q. :i. Per principalem. Dist. 40. ' Si Papa.'
(aaa) ' Incur,' fall under.— Ed. (bbb) Ibid. (ccc) Dist. 32. c. ' prater hoc' Verum.
(214) Dist. !>(!. Constantinus.
(215) Ex Commentariis Theoderici Niemi. quern citat Illyricus [Flacms] in Catalogo testium,
fol. 228. [The editor has endeavoured to select from the best authorities the English names of the
places contained in the following sentence, copied verbatim from the original. A few names, which
are more difficult to explain, and distinguished with asterisks, are left in the text nearly in the
form in which Foxe gives them; the Case only being altered from the accusative to the nomina-
tive. The authority upon which the alteration from ancient to modern orthography is made is
principally Monsieur Baudrand. "Surianum, Montembordon, et Lunae m,iilam, Corsica' Kcgnum,
ParvamMantuam,Myiitemselete,InsulamVenetiarum,DucatumFerraria',Canelluin,Caniodam,Duca-
.11 3
[04 Till: IMACK OF ANTICHRIST EXALTING HIMSELF.
Eeoimtm kingdom of Corsica, Little Mantua, Monselice, Venice, the duchy of
li'iZ'ru. Perrara, Canclli, Canioda,* the duchy of Histria, Dalmatia, the
Exarchate of Kavenna, Favcntia, Cesena, Castro, Tiberiatus,* Rocca,
Milan, Ceperano, Cudelaff,210 Imola, Rimini, Centa, MontfeiTat, II
Mlonte Olympe, Castrum Exforii,* Ruvo,217 Gubio, Urbino, Fossom-
brone, 11 Galli, Senigaglia, Ancona, Gosa,* the duchy of Perugia,
( hv'utto, Todi, Segnino, the duchy of Spoleto, Tiano, Calabria,
the duchy of Naples, the duchy of Benevento, Salerno, the promon-
tory of Lorento, Sardinia, the isle of Ansa, the territory of Cutisa,*
the territory of Pra?ncste, Silandum, Chiusi, Fondi, Terra Vegeta,*
Terra Claudia,* Camerino, Fabrianese, Siros, Porto with the island
Archis,* Ostia with its ports ; the state of Aquino, the state of Lamen-
tano, Civita Castellana, Fidense, Farento, Celano, Naples, and Galli-
polis, with divers others more,218 which Constantine the emperor
gave unto me. Not that they were not mine before he did give
them ;21D for in that I took them of him, I took them not as a gift
(as is before mentioned), but as a restitution ; and in that I rendered
them again to Otho, I did it not for any duty to him, but only for
peace sake.
What should I speak here of my daily revenues, of my first-fruits,
annates, palls, indulgences, bulls, confessionals, indults and rescripts,
testaments, dispensations, privileges, elections, prebends, religious
houses, and such like, which come to no small mass of money ? inso-
much that, for one pall to the archbishop of Mentz, which was wont
Above to be given for 10,000 florins,220 now it is grown to 27,000 florins,
bishop- which I received of Jacobus the archbishop, not long before Basil
Germany. counc'l ' besides the fruits of other bishoprics in Germany, coming
/Eneas to the number of fifty, whereby what vantage cometh unto my coffers,
it may partly be conjectured. But what should I speak of Ger-
many,221 when the whole world is my diocese, as my canonists do
say, and all men are bound to believe ;222 except they will imagine
(as the Manichees do) two beginnings ; which is false and heretical ?
For Moses saith, In the beginning God made heaven and earth, and
not in the beginnings.223 Wherefore as I began, so I conclude,
commanding, declaring, and pronouncing, to stand upon necessity of
salvation, for every human creature to be subject to me.
turn Histrioe.Dalmatiam.Exarchatum Ravennae, Faventiam,Cesenam, Castrum, Tiberiatus, Roccam
Mediolanum, Castrum Ceperianum, Castrum Cusianum, Terrain Cornulariam, Ducatum Arimini,
Contain, Montem Ferretum, Montem Capinia? seu Olympicum, Castrum Exforii, Robin. Eugu-
bin [bigium,] Urbin [um.] Forum Sempronii, Gallii, et Senogalli, Anconam, Gosam, Ducatum Per-
usii, Urbenutam, et Tudertum, Castrum Sinianum, Ducatum Spoletanum, Theanum, Calabriam,
Ducatum Neapolim, Ducatum Beneventi, Selenium, Sorenti insulam, Cardiniam insulam, Aiicias
insulam, Territorium Cutisan, Territoriam Pranestinum, Terrain Silandis, Terram Clusium,
('•ainirinon], Terram Fundan, Terram Vegetan, Terram Claudianan, Terram Camisinam, Terram
l'ab[rjicnsein, Terrain Siram, Terram Portuensem, cum insula Archis, Terram Ostiensem cum
martrlmlB, Civitatem Aquinemsem, Civitatem Lamentum et Suft'orariam, Civitatem Falisenam,
iidenam, Feretium, Clitemam, Neapolim, Galiopolim."— Ed.]
(21fi) Cusi or Cudelaff. (217) Rubi in Apulia, now Ruvo.
(^1S) Hist. HG ' Constantinus.' (219) Antoninus. In Summa majore 3. part.
J2™] Ei lib. lira, nominum nationis Germanics.
I22') s^»t. decret. De penis c. ' Felicia,' in Glossa. Item de privilegiis, c. ' Autoritatem,' in
(222) Pope Bonifacius 8. Extr. de Majo. et obed. c. Unamsanctam,' (223) Ibid
i M) OF ROOK THE SIXTH.
ACTS AND MONUMENTS.
BOOK VII.
TERTAINING TO
THE LAST THREE HUNDRED YEARS FROM THE LOOSING OUT
OF SATAN.
HENRY THE EIGHTH.1
NOTES SUMMARILY COLLECTED AND REPEATED OF THINGS
DONE IN THE TIME OF KING HENRY VII.
As touching the civil state and administration of the common- Henry
■wealth, and likewise of the state of the church under the reign of _
king Henry VII. ; how he entered first into possession of the crown ; A- D.
how the two houses of York and Lancaster were in him conjoined 150°"
through marriage with Elizabeth, the eldest daughter to king Edward
IV., by the prudent counsel of John Morton, then bishop of Ely,
after archbishop of Canterbury, and cardinal ; how long the said king
reigned, and what persecution was in his time for lack of search and
knowledge of God's word, both in the diocese of Lincoln under
bishop Smith (who was erector of the house of Brazcnnosc in
Oxford), as also in the diocese of Coventry, and other places more :
and further, what punishment and alteration God commonly sendeth
upon cities and realms public, for neglecting the safety of his flock,
sufficiently in the former book hath been already specified ; wherein
many things more amply might have been added, incident in tlie
reign of this prince, which we have for brevity pretermitted. For
he that studieth to comprehend in story all things which the common
course and use of life may offer to the writer, may sooner find matter
to occupy himself, than to profit others. Otherwise 1 might have iVrkin
inferred mention of the seditious tumult of Perkin Warbcck, with ^1;',',1"'k
his retinue, a.d. 1494, also of Blackheath field by the blacksmith, i ^m.i
a.d. 1496. I might also have recited the glorious commendation oftobf
George Lily2 in his Latin chronicle, testifying of king Henry VII., J^f1"
how he sent three solemn orators to pope Julius II., to yield liis »
obedience to the see of Rome, a.d. 1506; and likewise how pope heatb
Alexander IX., Pius III., and Julius II., sent to the said king BeW'
[V Edition 1563, p. 373. Ed. 1570, p. 935. Ed. 1576, p. 773. E.I. 1683, p. 709. Ed. 1596, p. 7."S.
Ed. ir.84, vol. ii. p. 1.— Ed.
(2) Chronicun Regum Angli.x ; 8vo. Basilea?, 1561.— Ed.
166 MAEEIAGK OF HENRY THE EIGHTH.
licnrx Henry VII., three sundry famous ambassadors, with three swords
and three caps of maintenance, electing and admitting him to be the
A. I), chief defender of the faith : the commendation of which fact, how
1509. o-lorious it is in the eyes of George Lily and Fabian, that I leave to
them. This I suppose, that when king Henry sent to pope Julius
three orators with obedience, if he had sent him three thousand harque-
bussicr.s to furnish his field against the French king fighting at Ra-
venna, he had pleased pope Julius much better. If George Lily had
been disposed to illustrate his story with notes, this had been more
worthy the noting, how Ludovic XII., the French king, calling his
parliament, moved this question against pope Julius, whether a pope
might invade any prince by warlike force without cause, and whether
the prince might withdraw his obedience from that pope or not? And
it was concluded in the same parliament with the king, against the
pope.1 Also it was concluded the same time (which was in the reign
of this king Henry VII.), that the Pragmatical Sanction2 should be
received in full force and effect through all the realm of France.
And forasmuch as we are fallen into the mention of George Lily,
this in him is to be found not unworthy noting, how, after the burn-
Note ing of Thomas Noris above mentioned,3 at the city of Norwich, the
plagues same year followed such a fire in Norwich, that the whole city well
t'ii'c'imn'f near was therewith consumed. Like as also after the burning of the
ing of aforesaid good aged father in Smithfield the same year, a.d. 1500,
people, we read in the chronicle of Fabian, that a great plague fell upon the
city of London, to the great destruction of the inhabitants thereof :
wherein again is to be noted, as is aforesaid, that according to the
state of the church the disposition of the commonwealth commonly
is guided, either to be with adversity afflicted, or else in prosperity to
flourish. But after these notes of king Henry VII., now to the story
of king Henry VIII.
children This king Henry VII., finishing his course in the year abovesaid,
Henry8 wmcn was 1509, had, by Elizabeth his wife abovenamecl, four men-
v"-. children, and of women-children as many; of whom three only sur-
onadyKe vived, to wit, prince Henry, lady Margaret, and lady Mary : of
ando'r rel whom, king Henry VIII. succeeded his father ; lady Margaret was
«jy . married to James IV., king of Scots ; lady Mary was affianced to
Charles king of Castile.
Prince Not long before the death of king Henry, prince Arthur his
marries eldest son had espoused lady Katharine, daughter to Ferdinand,
Katha. being of the age of fifteen years, and she about the age of seventeen ;
!'»; "is and shortly after his marriage, within five months he departed at Lud-
King' low, and was buried at Worcester. After his decease, the succession
marrieth of the crown fell next to king Henry VIII., who, being of the age of
eighteen years, entered his reign a.d. 1509, and shortly after
married with the aforesaid Katharine, his late brother prince Arthur's
wife, to the end that her dowry, being great, should not be trans-
ported out of the land ; in the which his marriage (being more politic
than Bcripture-like), he was dispensed with by pope Julius, at the
request of Ferdinand her father. The reign of this king continued
(i) Kx Maiaeo, lib. ao.
(2 I'rngmatiia K. mi tin, was a practising or a determination of a certain parliament in Fratice
against the bli nor ' ' l( "■" ■ In defence of certain matters of religion concluded in the council of
BOalL r Bee vol iv. p 120. -Ed.
Iirntliei
pensa
THK DOMINIC AXD FRANCISCAN FRIABS. ] G'
with great nobleness and feme the space of thirty-eight years; during //.<•«>■.,
•whose time and reign was great alteration of things, as well to the 1
civil state of the realm, as especially to the state ecclesiastical, and A.l).
matters to the church appertaining. For by him was exiled and 150a-
abolished out of the realm the usurped power of the bishop of Rome,
idolatry and superstition somewhat repressed, images and pilgrimages
defaced, abbeys and monasteries pulled down, sects of religion rooted
out, Scriptures reduced to the knowledge of the vulgar tongue, and
the state of the church and religion redressed. Concerning all which
things, in the process of the volumes here following, we will endea-
vour (Christ willing) particularly and in order to discourse; after that
first, we shall comprehend a few matters, which, within the beginning
of his reign, are to be noted and collected: where (leaving off to
write of Empson and Dudley, who, in the time of king Henry VIL,
being great doers in executing the penal laws over the people at that
time, and purchasing thereby more malice than lands, with that which
they had gotten, were, shortly after the entering of this king, beheaded,
the one a knight, the other an esquire : leaving also to intermeddle
with his wars, triumphs, and other temporal affairs), we mean in these
volumes principally to bestow our travail in declaration of matters
concerning most chiefly the state of the church, and of religion, as
well in this church of England, as also of the whole church of Rome.
Herein first cometh to our hands i a turbulent tragedy, and a
fierce contention, which long before had troubled the church, and
now this present year, 1509, was renewed afresh between two certain
orders of Begging Friars, to wit, the Dominic Friars and the Francis-
cans, about the conception of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ.
The Franciscans were they who did hold of St. Francis, and Frand
followed the rule of his testament, commonly called Grey Friars or j££»,
Minorites. Their opinion was this, that the Virgin Mary, prevented
by the grace of the Holy Ghost, was so sanctified, that she was
never subject one moment in her conception to original sin. The
Dominic Friars were those, who, holding of Dominic, were commonly Dom
called Black Friars, or preaching friars. Their opinion was this : that
the Virgin Mary was conceived as all other children of Adam be ;
so that this privilege only belongeth to Christ, to be conceived with-
out original sin : notwithstanding, the said blessed virgin was sancti-
fied in her mother's womb, and purged from her original sin, so as
was John Baptist, Jeremy, or any other privileged person. This i
frivolous question kindling and engendering between these two sects „ 11M,
of friars, burst out into such a flame of parts and sides-taking, that Jj^J,
it occupied the heads and wits, schools and universities, almost for the
through the whole church; some holding one part with Scotus, some tionof
the other part with Thomas Aquinas. The Minorites holding with ^M«y.
Scotus their master, disputed and concluded, that she was conceived
without all spot or note of original sin ; and thereupon caused the
feast and service of the conception of St. Mary the Virgin, to be
celebrated and solemnized in the church. Contrary, the Dominic friars,
taking side with Aquinas, preached, that it was heresy to affirm that
the blessed virgin was conceived without the guilt of original sin;
and that those who did celebrate the feast of her conception, or said
any masses thereof, did sin grievously and mortally.
line.
lil(H> dis-
]68 DISSENSION BKTWEKN THE 1TUAKS
if<-ir,j Tn the mean time, as this fantasy waxed hot in the church, the one
_^_ side preaching against the other, came pope Sixtus IV., a.d. 1476,
who, joining side with the Minorites or Franciscans, first sent forth his
decree by authority apostolic, willing, ordaining, and commanding all
nun to solemnize this new-found feast of the conception, in holy
church for evermore : offering to all men and women, who, devoutly
•'.Mtion'of frequenting the church, would hear mass and service from the first
iheVir- even-song of the said feast, to the octaves of the same, as many days
of pardon, as pope Urban IV., and pope Martin V., did grant for
hearing the service of Corpus Christi day, &c. And this decree was
given and dated at Rome, a.d. 1476.
Moreover the same pope, to the intent that the devotion of the
people might be the more encouraged to the celebration of this con-
ception, added a clause more to the Ave Maria, granting great indul-
gence and release of sins to all such as would invocate the blessed
a new Virgin with the same addition, saying thus : "Ave Maria gratia plena,
Ha of ti'e Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus
making vcntris tlu' Jesus Christus ; et benedicta sit Anna mater tua, de qua,
He add- sine macula, tua processit caro Virginia. Amen." That is, " Hail !
wiwds of8 Mar}'i fi^l °f grace, the Lord is with, thee ; blessed art thou among
scripture, women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Christ ; and
blessed is Anna thy mother, of whom thy virgin's flesh hath pro-
ceeded without blot of original sin. Amen.1''
Three ab- Wherein thou mayest note, gentle reader ! for thy learning three
t',"i,' M things: First, how the pope turneth that improperly into a prayer,
which properly was sent of God for a message or tidings. Secondly,
how the pope addeth to the Avords of the Scripture, contrary to the
express precept of the Lord. Thirdly, how the pope exempteth
Mary the blessed Virgin, not only from the seed of Abraham and
Adam, but also from the condition of a mortal creature. For if there
be in her no original sin, then she bareth not the image of Adam,
neither doth she descend of that seed, of whose seed evil proceedeth
upon all men and women, to condemnation ; as St. Paul doth teach,
Rom. v. Wherefore if she descend of that seed, then the infection
of original evil must necessarily proceed unto her. If she descend
not thereof, then cometh she not of the seed of Abraham, nor of the
seed of David, &c. Again, seeing that death is the effect and
stipend of sin, by the doctrine of St, Paul [Rom. vi.], then had her
flesh injury by the law, as Christ himself had, to suffer the maledic-
tion and punishment of death ; and so should she never have died, if
original sin had no place in her, &c. But to return unto our story:
This constitution of the pope being set forth for the conception of
the Messed Virgin, which was a.d. 1476, it was not long after but
the said pope Sixtus, perceiving that the Dominic friars with their
complices would not conform themselves hereunto, directed forth, by
the authority apostolical, a bull in effect as followcth :'
I he tenor of the Pope's Bull, for the conception of the Virgin to
be without original Sin.
V. Iicicis the holy church of Rome hath ordained a special and proper service
for the puhlic Bolemnwing of the feast of the conception of the blessed Virgin
■"■■ ta "R ! i • ; i e iiti meralae, seiniterqiie virgih&C fcc
IKitrd.
ON THK CONCEPTION OK THE VIRGIN MARY. 169
Mary ; certain orders of the Black Friars, in their puhlic sermons to the people u,„r,,
in divers places, have not ceased hitherto to preach, and yet daily do, that all y'"-
those who hold or affirm the said glorious Virgin to have been conceived without . n
original sin, be heretics ; and those who celebrate the service of the said her \ V .!, '
conception, or do hear the sermons of those who do so affirm, do sin grievously : ' '
Also, not contented herewith, they do write and set forth books moreover,
maintaining their assertions, to the great offence and ruin of godly minds: We,
therefore, to prevent and withstand such presumptuous and perverse assertions
as have arisen, and more hereafter may arise, by such opinions and preach-
ings aforesaid, in the minds of the faithful; by the authority apostolical, dp
condemn and reprove the same; and by the motion, knowledge, and authority
aforesaid, decree and ordain, That the preachers of God's word, and all other
persons, of what state, degree, order, or condition soever they be, who shall
presume to dare affirm, or preach to the people these aforesaid opinions and
assertions to be true, or shall read, hold, or maintain any such books for true,
having before intelligence hereof, shall incur thereby the sentence of excom-
munication, from which they shall not be absolved otherwise than by the bishop
of Rome ; except only in the time of death.
This bull, being dated a. d. 1488, gave no little heart and en-
couragement to the Grey Friars Franciscan, who defended the pure
conception of the holy Virgin against the Black Dominic friars, with
their confederates, holding the contrary side ; by the vigour of which
bull, the grey order had got such a conquest of the black guard of
the Dominies, that the said Dominies were compelled at length, for a
perpetual memorial of the triumph, both to give to the glorious
Virgin every night an anthem in praise of her conception, and also
to subscribe unto their doctrine ; in which doctrine these, with clivers
other points, be contained.
I. That blessed Mary the Virgin suffered the griefs and adversities in this
life, not for any necessity inflicted for punishment of original sin, but only be-
cause she would conform herself to the imitation of Christ.1
II. That the said Virgin, as she was not obliged to any punishment due for Filthy ab-
sin, as neither was Christ her Son, so she had no need of remission of sins; but surdities
instead thereof had the divine preservation of God's help, keeping her from all JJLe'g
sin, which grace only she needed, and also had it. doctrine.
III. Item, That whereas the body of the Virgin Mary was subject to death, How the
and died; this is to be understood to come not for any penalty due for sin, but w!rrJ.",
either for imitation and conformity unto Christ, or else for the natural consti- j, 1 1 to
tution of her body, being elemental, as were the bodies of our first parents : who, death,
if they had not tasted of the forbidden fruit, should have been preserved from |rf^>
death, not by nature, but by grace, and strength of other fruits and meats in opinions,
Paradise : which meats because Mary had not, but did eat our common meats,
therefore she died, and not for any necessity of original Bin.2
IV. The universal proposition of St. Paul, which saith, That the Scripture
hath concluded all men under sin, is to be understood thus ; as speaking of all
those who be not exempted by the special privilege of God, as is the blessed
Virgin Mary.
V. If justification be taken for reconciliation of hiin that was unrighteous
before, and now is made righteous; then the blessed Virgin is to be taken, not
for justified by Christ, but just from her beginning by preservation.
VI. If a Saviour be taken for him who savetb men fallen into perdition and
condemnation ; so is not Christ the Saviour of Mary, but is her Saviour only in
this respect, for sustaining her from not falling into condemnation, ike.
VII. Neither did the Virgin Mary give thanks to God, nor ought so to do,
for expiation of her sins, but for her conservation from case of sinning.
(1) Ex Jod. Clitoviro de puritate conceptions, lib. ii.
(J) CHtovaeus, lib. ii. cap. 2. [" ClitOVSDUS," a Frenchman and canon of ChatrC3. II!s writings arc
enumerated in Ant. Possevini apparatus sneer; Col. Agrip. 1608: torn, i p. 900: ate also the
Autographa Lutheri aliorndiqtie ; Brunt i Iga 1096, torn. i. p. 42.— Ed.]
170 DISSENSION BETWEEN THE FMARS.
Bmrw VIII. Neither did she pray to God at any time for remission of her sins, but
VIII. 011iv for the remission of other men's sins she prayed many times, and counted
. n their sins for hers.
V IX. If the blessed Virgin had deceased before the passion of her Son, God
lo()-)- would have reposed her soul not in the place among the patriarchs, or amongst
Good the just, but in the same most pleasant place of Paradise, where Adam and Eve
*tufn were, before they trail
These were the doting dreams and fantasies of the Franciscans, and
of other papists, commonly then holden in the schools, written in
their books, preached in their sermons, taught in churches, and set
forth in pictures.1 So that the people Avere taught nothing else almost
in the pulpits all this while, but how the Virgin Mary was conceived
immaculate and holy, without original sin, and how they ought to
call to her for help, whom they with special terms do call, ' the way
of mercy,'' ' the mother of grace,1 ' the lover of piety,' the com-
forter of mankind,'' * the continual intercessor for the salvation of the
faithful,1 and ' an advocate to the King her Son that never ceaseth,"1
idolatry &c-2 And although the greatest number of the school-doctors were
{*» *• of the contrary faction, as Peter the Lombard, Thomas Aquinas,
virgin. Bernard, Bonaventure, and others ; yet these new papists shifted off
their objections with frivolous distinctions and blind evasions, as thus:
" Peter the Lombard,'''' they said, " is not received nor holden in the
schools as touching this article, but is rejected."'13
Otyec- Bernard,4 although he seemeth to deny the conception of the
l.'l'hiv" blessed Virgin to be void of original sin, saying, that she could not
■aimed, be holy when she was not, and lived not : to this they answer, that
albeit she was not yet in essence, yet she was holy in her conception,
and before conception, in the, divine prescience of God, who had
chosen and pre-elected her before the worlds, to be the mother of
the Lord.
Again ; where Bernard doth argue, that she was not without ori-
ginal sin conceived, because she was not conceived by the Holy
Ghost : to this they answer, that the Holy Ghost may work two ways
in conception ; either without company of man, and so was Christ
only conceived ; or else with company and help of man, and thus was
the blessed Virgin conceived.6
Popisii Bonaventure (say they) was a holy father, but he spake then after
.N.A'i'in"' the custom and manner of his time, when the solemnity and purity
ti'nu'' 'y °f tms conception was not yet decreed nor received by the public
consent and authority of the church. Now, seeing the authority of
the church of Rome hath established the same, it ought not to be
contraried, nor can, without dangerous disobedience. In all men's
actions diligent respect of time must be had. That which bindcth
not at one time, afterwards the same by law being ratified, may bind
at another.0
verity Finally, for the number and multitude on the contrary side, thus
i„ they answer for themselves, as we now in these our days likewise, in
defence of the truth, may well answer against the pope, and all his
popish friars, turning their own weapons against themselves " Mul-
(1) The Grey Friars had made a picture of Joachim and Anna kissing, by which kbs Anna was
i '1 with Mary. 1.x Hob. Lycio Minorita.
(21 Verba papas Sexti In decret. (S) CUtovseus, lib. ii. cap. 15.
ILugdunens. (5) Cut. lib. ii. cap. 14. (C) Ibid.
OX THE CONCEPTION OF THE VJBGIK MARY. 171
titude," say they, " ought not to move us ; victory consisteth not in rimy
number and heaps, but in fortitude and. hearts of soldiers ; yea, rather '
fortitude and stomach cometh from heaven, and not of man. Judas A1)-
Maccabeus, with a little handful, overthrew the great army of Anti- l'A>'h
oclms. Strong Samson, with a poor ass's bone, slew a thousand to,y !»
Philistines. David had no more but a silly sling, and a lew stones, tudeof
and with these struck down terrible Goliath the giant,"1 &c. soldiers.
With these and other like reasons the grey Franciscans voided
their adversaries, defending the conception of the Virgin Mary to be
unblemished, and pure from all contagion of original sin. Contrari-
wise, the black guard of the Dominic friars, for their parts, were not
all mute, but laid lustily from them again, having great authorities,
and also the Scripture on their side, out yet the others, having the The
see apostolical with them, had the better hand, and in fine got the Side
victory triumphantly over the others, to the high exaltation of their JJJJJ^
order. For pope Sixtus, as I said, by the authority apostolical, after scnp-
he had decreed the conception-day of the Virgin perpetually to be tur
sanctified, and also, with his terrible bull, had condemned for heretics
all those who withstood the same ; the Dominic friars, with authority
oppressed, were driven to two inconveniences : the one was, to keep
silence ; the other was, to give plaee to their adversaries the Francis
cans. Albeit, where the mouth durst not speak, yet the heart would
work ; and though their tongues were tied, yet their goodwill was
ready by all means possible to maintain then: quarrel and their esti-
mation.
Whereupon it happened the same year, a.d. 1509, after this dis-
sension between the Dominic friars and the Franciscans, that certain
of the Dominies, thinking by subtle sleight to work in the people's
heads that which they durst not achieve with open preaching, devised
a certain image of the Virgin2 so artificially wrought, that the friars,
by privy gins, made it to stir, and to make gestures, to lament, to
complain, to weep, to groan, and to give answers to them that asked ; Four
insomuch that the people therewith were brought in a marvellous I,™ .lt
persuasion, till at length the fraud being espied, the friars were taken, Bcl"L-
condemned, and burnt at Berne, in the year above-mentioned.3
In the story of John Stumsius, this story aforesaid doth partly
appear : but in the registers and records of the city of Berne, the
order and circumstance thereof is more fully expressed and set forth
both in metre and prose, and is thus declared :
In the city of Berne4 there were certain Dominic friars, to the
number chiefly of four principal doers and chieftains of that order,
who had inveigled a certain simple poor friar, who had newly planted
himself in the cloister; whom the aforesaid friars had so infatuated
with sundry superstitions, and feigned apparitions of St. Mary, St.
Barbara, and St. Katharine, and with their enchantments, ami im-
printing, moreover, in him the wounds of St. Francis, that he believed
plainly that the Virgin Mary had appeared to him, and had offered
(1) Lib. eod. cap. 13.
(2) E.\ Casparo Peucero [Chronicon Carionis auct. Casp. Peuccro : Witcb. 1566; torn. iv.
p. 330.— En.] Sebast. Minister. COBUlOg. lib. ill
(3j Ex Pcucer. Si'bast. Munstero, Carione, et ;iliis. In tin- Centuries "f John Hale I find their
names to be, John Vctter, Francis Uliscus, Stephen Bolishorst, ;uul Henry SUinegger.
(4) Ex llistoria Iiernensi nonscripta v ulnar i et Latino sermone. [See also the "Tragical History
of Jetrer," E;c. fol. Loudon: 1G7'J; also "Protestant Journal," 13u'i, p. 121. — Eu]
172 MISERABLE BLINDNESS OF THE TIMES.
Henry \{xm a red host consecrated with the blood also of Christ miraculous;
1 IIL which blessed Virgin also had sent him to the senators of Berne,
A 1}- with instructions, declaring unto them from the mouth of the Virgin,
150!j- that she was conceived in sin ; and that the Franciscan friars were
not to be credited, nor suffered in the city, who were not yet reformed
from that erroneous opinion of her conception. He added moreover,
that they should resort to a certain image there of the Virgin Mary
(which image the friars by engines had made to sweat), and should do
their worship, and make their oblations to the same, &c.
This feigned device was no sooner forged by the friars, but it was
as soon believed of the people ; so that a great while the red-coloured
host was undoubtedly taken for the true body and blood of Christ,
and certain coloured drops thereof sent abroad to clivers noble per-
sonages and states for a great relic ; and that, not without great
recompense. Thus the deceived people in great numbers came
flocking to the image, and to the red host and coloured blood, with
manifold gifts and oblations. In brief, the Dominic friars so had
wrought the matter, and had so swept all the fat to their own beards
from the order of the Franciscans, that all the alms came to their
box. The Franciscans, seeing their estimation to decay, and their
kitchen to wax cold, and their paunches to be pinched, not able to
abide that contumely, and being not' ignorant or unacquainted with
such counterfeited doings (for as the proverb saith, " It is ill, halting
before a cripple"), eftsoons espied their crafty juggling, and detected
their fraudulent miracles. Whereupon the four chief captains above-
named were apprehended, and put to the fire, of whom the provincial
of that order was one.
Friars And thus much touching the beginning and end of this tumultuous
can agree and popish tragedy, wherein evidently it may appear to the reader,
them- h°w neither these turbulent friars could agree among themselves, and
noreetdo ^ ct m w^*' ^vo'ous trifles they wrangled together. But to let these
tUnagree ridiculous friars pass with their trifling fantasies, most worthy to be
vain" derided of all wise men, in the mean time this is to be lamented, to
trifles, behold the miserable times of the church, in which the devil kept the
minds of Christ's people so attentive, and occupied in such friarly
toys, that nothing else almost was taught or heard in the church, but
only the commendation and exaltation of the Virgin Mary : but of
our justification by faith, of grace, and of the promises of God in
Christ, of the strength of the law, of the horror of sin, of difference
between the law and the gospel, of the true liberty of conscience, &c,
no mention, or very little, was heard. Wherefore in this so blind a
time of darkness it was much needful and requisite, that the Lord of
his mercy should look upon his church, and send down his gracious
reformation, which also he did: for shortly upon the same, through
the gracious excitation of God, came Martin Luther, of whom the
order of story now requireth that we should, and will entreat (Christ
willing), alter the story of Richard Hun, and a few other things pre-
mised, for the better opening1 of the story to follow.
Mention was made sufficiently before of the doings of pope Julius,
,ihii„' and ol his warlike affairs, for which he was condemned, and not un-
""r"'r justly, in the council of Tours in France, a.d. 1510, and vet all this
PERSECUTION IX THE DIOCESE OF LONDON. 173
could not assuage the furious affection of this pope, but the same iienry
year he invaded the cities of Modena and Mirandola in Italy, and
took them by force of war. This pope Julius not long after, a.d. A.D.
1512, refusing peace offered by Maximilian the emperor, was en- 1509-
countered by Louis the French king about Ravenna, upon Easter- The pope
day, where he was vanquished, and had of his army slain to the ?*"a™™e
number of sixteen thousand.1 And the year next following, a.d.
1513, this apostolical warrior, who had resigned his keys unto the
river Tibur before, made an end together both of his fighting and The
living, after he had reigned and fought ten years. After whom sue- p^e °
ceeded next in the see of Rome, pope Leo X. ; about the compass Jlllius
of which time great mutations and stirs began to work, as well in
states temporal, as especially in the state of the church.
The State and Succession of Princes.
YEARS
Pope Leo X., in Rome .... a.d. 1513 .... reigned . 9
Charles V., emperor of Germany ... 1519 39
Francis, king of France 1515 32
Henry VIII., king of England .... 1509 38
James V., king of Scotland 1514 29
In the time of which pope, emperor, and kings of England, France,
and Scotland, great alterations, troubles, and turns of religion were
wrought in the church, by the mighty operation of God"s hand, in
Italy, France, Germany, England, and all Europe ; such as have not
been seen (although, much groaned for) many hundred years before :
as in further discourse of this history, Christ willing, shall more mani-
festly appear.
But before we come to these alterations, taking the time as it lieth
before us, we will first speak of Richard Hun, and certain other godly
minded pe\sons here in England, afflicted for the word of Christ's
gospel in great multitudes, as they be found and taken out of the
registers of Fitzjames, bishop of London, by the faithful help and
industry of R. Carket, citizen of London.
THE HISTORY OF DIVERS GOOD MEN AND WOMEN, PERSECUTED
FOR RELIGION IN THE CITY AND DIOCESE OF THE BISHOP OF
LONDON ; BRIEFLY EXTRACTED OUT OF THE REGISTERS OF
RICHARD FITZJAMES.
Amongst and besides the great number of the faithful martyrs and i"*-1*09
professors of Christ, that constantly, in the strength of the Holy Ghost,
gave their lives for the testimony of his truth, I find recorded in the
register2 of London, between the years of our Lord 1509 and 1527,
the names of divers other persons, both men and women, who, in the
fulness of that dark and misty time of ignorance, had also some por-
tion of Goofs good Spirit, which induced them to the knowledge of
his truth and gospel, and were diversely troubled, persecuted, and
imprisoned for the same. Notwithstanding by the proud, cruel, and
bloody rage of the Catholic seat, and through the weakness and frailty
of their own nature (not then fully strengthened in God), it was again
(l) Ex Chron. Carion. (2) F.x Registrk Fitzjames.
PERSECUTION IN TIIK DIOCESE OF LONDON.
A.I).
1.309
to
1518.
in them for the time suppressed and kept under, as appearcth by their
several abjurations made before Richard Fitzjames, then bishop of
London (in his time a most cruel persecutor of Christ's church), or
else before his vicar-general, deputed for the same. And forasmuch
as many of the adversaries of God's truth have of late days disdain-
fully and braggingly cried out, and made demands in their public
assemblies, and yet do, asking, Where this our church and religion
Mas within these fifty or sixty years ? I have thought it not altogether
vain, somewhat to stop such lying crakers, both by mentioning their
names, and likewise opening some of the chief and principal matters
for which they were so unmercifully afflicted and molested: thereby
to give to understand, as well the continuance and consent of the true
church of Christ in that age, touching the chief points of our faith
(though not in like perfection of knowledge and constancy in all), as
also by the way something to touch what fond and frivolous matters
the ignorant prelates shamed not in that time of blindness to object
against the poor and simple people, accounting them as heinous and
great offences, yea, such as deserved death both of body and soul.
But lest I should seem too prolix and tedious herein, I will now
briefly proceed with the story, and first begin with their names, which
are these :
Thomas Austy?
Joan Austy.
Thomas Grant.
John Garter.
Christopher Ravins.
Dyonise Ravins.
Thomas Vincent.
Lewis John.
Joan John.
A.D. 1512.
John Webb, alias Baker.
A.D. 1517.
John Houshold.
Robert Rascal.
A.D. 1518.
Elizabeth Stanford.
George Browne.
A.D. 1510.1
Joan Baker.
William Pottier.
John Forge.
Thomas Goodred.
Thomas Walker, alias
Talbot.
Thomas Forge.
Alice Forge.
John Forge, their son.
William Cowper.
'John Calverton.
John Woodrof.
A.D. 1511.
Richard Woolman.
Roger Hilliar.
Alice Cowper.
John Wikes.
John Southake.
Richard Butler.
John Samme.
A.D. 1521.
William King.
Robert Durdant.
Henry Woolman.
Edmund Spilman.
A.D. 1523.
John Higges, alias
Noke, alias Johnson,
A.D. 1526.
Henry Chambers.
John Higgins.
A.D. 1527.
Thomas Egleston.
THE PARTICULAR EXAMINATION OF ALL THOSE ABOVE NAMED
HERE FOLLOWETH.
To these were divers and sundry particular articles (besides the
common and general sort accustomably used in such cases) privately
objected ; even such as they were then accused of either by their
curate, or others their neighbours. And because I think it somewhat
superfluous to make any large recital of all and every part of their
several process, I mind therefore briefly only to touch so many of
their articles as may be sufficient to induce the christian reader to
judge the sooner of the rest; being (I assure you) of no greater im-
portance than these that follow: except that sometimes they were
charged, most slanderously, with horrible and blasphemous lies against
the majesty and truth of God; which as they utterly denied, so do I
now lor this present keep secret in silence, as well for brevity's sake,
(1) Ex Hcgist. R. Fitzjnincs.
PERSECUTION1 IN THK DIOCESE Of LONDON'. 175
as also somewhat to colour and hide the shameless practices of that Bmrv
lying generation. But to our purpose.
A. D.
Sloan 3a&eu anD tfjictn^ninc otfjetf. 15t°9
1518.
The chief objections against Joan Baker were as follows : That si
1C
would not only herself not reverence the crucifix, but had also persuaded
a friend of hers, lying at the point of death, not to put any trust or
confidence in the crucifix, but in God who is in heaven, who only Against
worketh all the miracles that be done, and not the dead images, which ^
be but stocks and stones ; and therefore she was sorry that ever she ^oyuci"
had gone so often on pilgrimage to St. Saviour and other idols. Also, cross.
that she did hold opinion, that the pope had no power to give pardons, Jy^™^
and that the lady Young (who was not long before that time burned) tady
died a true martyr of God ; and therefore she wished of God, that she martyr.
herself might do no worse than the said lady Young had done.
Unto William Pottier, besides divers other false and slanderous wiiiiam
articles (as that he should deny the benefit and effect of Christ's pas- p°j^er'
sion) it was also alleged as under : That he should affirm there were slander of
six Gods: the first three were the holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, venaries.
and the Holy Ghost ; the fourth was a priest's concubine being kept
in his chamber ; the fifth was the Devil ; and the sixth, that thing
that a man setteth his mind most upon.
The first part of this article he utterly denied, confessing most Answer.
firmly and truly, the blessed Trinity to be only one God in one unity
of Deity. As to the other three he answered, that a priest delight-
ing in his concubine, made her as his God : likewise a wicked person,
persisting in his sin without repentance, made the devil his God :
and lastly, he granted, that he once, hearing of certain men, who by
the singing and chattering of birds would seek to know what things
were to come either to themselves or others, said, That those men
esteemed their birds as gods ; and otherwise he spake not.
Amongst the manifold and several articles objected against Thomas j"10™'
Goodred, Thomas Walker, Thomas Forge, Alice Forge his wife, Thomas'
John Forge their son, John Calverton, John Woodrof, Richard Wool- ^J;,"'
man, and "Roger Hilliar (as that they should speak against pilgrimages, ^e,
praying unto saints, and such like), this principally was propounded : others.
That they all denied the carnal and corporal presence of Christ's body ASainst
and blood in the sacrament of the altar ; and further, had concealed JJJJjjJ"
and consented unto their teachers and instructors in that doctrine, and Hon and
had not, according to the laws of the church, accused and presented presence.
them unto the bishop or his ordinary.
Also great and heinous displeasure was conceived against Richard
Woolman, for that he termed the church of Paul's a house of thieves,
affirming, that the priests and other ecclesiastical persons there were
not liberal givers unto the poor (as they ought to be) but rather takcrs-
away from them of what they could get.
Likewise as Thomas Austy, Joan Austy his wife, Thomas Grant,
J7G PERSECUTION IX THE DIOCESE OF LONDON.
Henry John Garter, Christopher Ravins, Dyonise Ravins his sister, Thomas
VIU- Vincent, Lewis John, Joan John his wife, and John Webb, were of
A. D. one fellowship and profession of faith with divers of the last before
1509 recited ; so were they almost all apprehended about one time, and
-,r°\a chiefly burdened with one opinion of the Sacrament : which declareth
— - — - evidently, that notwithstanding the dark ignorance of those corrupted
times, yet God did ever in mercy open the eyes of some to behold
the manifest truth, even in those things whereof the papists make now
greatest vaunt, and brag of longest continuance.
Furthermore, many of them were charged to have spoken against
pilgrimages, and to have read and used certain English books repugn-
ing the faith of the Romish church, as the four Evangelists, Wickliffs
Wicket, a Book of the Ten Commandments of Almighty God, the Re-
velation of St. John, the Epistles of Paul and James, with other like,
which those holy ones could never abide. And good cause why : for
as darkness could never agree with light, no more can ignorance, the
maintained of that kingdom, with the true knowledge of Christ and his
gospel.
It was further particularly objected against Joan John, the wife of
Lewis John, that (besides the premises) she learned and maintained,
Holy- that God commanded no holy days to be kept, but only the Sabbath-
day8' day, and therefore she would keep none but it ; nor any fasting days,
affirming, that to fast from sin, was the true fast. Moreover, that she
Against had despised the pope, his pardons and pilgrimages ; insomuch that
!!.''«,' "nd wnen any Poor body asked an alms of her in the worship of the Lady
a.iura- 0f Walsingham, she would strait answer in contempt of the pilgrimage,
images. "The Lady of Walsingham help thee:"" and if she gave any thing
unto him, she would then say, " Take this in the worship of our Lady
in heaven, and let the other go." Which declareth, that for lack of
better instruction and knowledge, she yet ignorantly attributed too
much honour to the true saints of God departed, though otherwise
she did abhor the idolatrous worshipping of the dead images. By
which example, as also by many others (for shortness* sake at this
present omitted), I have just occasion to condemn the wilful subtlety
of those, who, in this bright shining light of God's truth, would yet,
under colour of godly remembrance, still maintain the having of
images in the church, craftily excusing their idolatrous kneeling and
praying unto them, by affirming, that they never worshipped the dead
images, but the things that the images did represent. But if that
were their only doctrine and cause of having of them, why then would
their predecessors so cruelly compel these poor simple people thus
openly, in their recantations, to abjure and revoke their speaking
against the gross adoration of the outward images only, and not
against the thing represented ; which many of them (as appeareth
partly by this example), in their ignorant simplicity, confessed might
be worshipped? Howbcit, God be thanked (who ever in his mercy
continue it!) their colourable and hypocritical excuses cannot now
take such place in the hearts of the elect of God as they have done
heretofore, especially seeing the word of God doth so manifestly forbid
as well the worshipping of them, as also the making or having of them
for order of religion.
PERSECUTION IN THE DIOCESE OF LONDON. 177
ft was alleged against William Cowper, and Alice Cowper his wife, £mp
as follows : That they had spoken against pilgrimages, and worshipping
of images; but^ chiefly the woman, who, having her child, on a time, A.D.
hurt by falling into a pit or ditch, and being earnestly persuaded by 1509
some of her ignorant neighbours to go on pilgrimage to St. Laurence 1-J'I'S
for help for her child, said, That neither St. Laurence, nor any other —
saint could help her child, and therefore none ought to go on pilgrim- t"^-
age to any image made with man's hand, but only to Almighty God ; £0°dof
for pilgrimages were nothing worth, saving to make the priests rich. imaeee-
Unto John Houshold, Robert Rascal, and Elizabeth Stamford, as Against
well the article against the sacrament of the altar was objected, as J"™^
also that they had spoken against praying to saints, and had despised •'"" ■""l
the authority of the bishop of Rome, "and others of his clergy. But Tth'Jny
especially John Houshold was charged to have called them antichrists pqpe*
and fornicators, and the pope himself a strong strumpet, and a
common scandal unto the world, who with his pardons had drowned *
in blindness all christian realms ; and that for money.
Also among clivers other ordinary articles propounded against George
George Browne, these were counted very heinous and heretical : First, Browne-
that he had said, that he knew no cause why the cross should be Agninst
worshipped, seeing that the same was a hurt and pain unto our Saviour $ the*10"
Christ in the time of his passion, and not any ease or pleasure ; cross-
alleging for example, that if he had had a friend hanged or drowned,
he would ever after have loved that gallows or water, by which his
friend died, rather worse for that, than better. Another objection
was, that he had erroneously, obstinately, and maliciously said (for immo-
so are their words), that the church was too rich. This matter, I may (£"«
tell you, touched somewhat the quick, and therefore no marvel that of ,h,e
they counted it erroneous and malicious ; for take away their gain, clergy.
and farewell their religion. They also charged him to have refused
holy water to be cast about his chamber, and likewise to have spoken
against priests, with other vain matters.
The greatest matter wherewith they burdened John Wikes was, John
that he had often and of long time kept company with divers persons w M"
suspected of heresy (as they termed them), and had received them
into his house, and there did suffer and hear them sundry times read
erroneous and heretical books, contrary to the faith of the Romish
church ; and did also himself consent unto their doctrine, and had
many times secretly conveyed them from the taking of such as were
appointed to apprehend them.
Like as the greatest number of those before-mentioned, so were John
also John Southakc, Richard Butler, John Sam, William King, K*e'
Robert Durdant, and Henry Woolman, especially charged with speak- "nl'}u'r'
ing words against the real presence of Christ's body in the sacrament others.
of the altar, and also against images, and the rest of the seven sacra- ajfreai
ments. Howbeit they burdened the last five persons with the reading presence
of certain English heretical books, accounting most blasphemously
the gospel of Jesus Christ, written by the four evangelists, to be of
vol. IV. x
178 PERSECUTION IN THE DIOCESE OF LONDON.
iienry tliat nnwiTiCT, as appeareth evidently by the eighth article objected by
,11L Thomas Bennet, doctor of law, chancellor and vicar-general unto
A. D. Richard Fitzjames, then bishop of London, against the said Richard
1509 Butler; the very words of which article, for a more declaration of
truth, I have thought good here to insert, which are these :
to
ilS.
' Also we object to you, that divers times, and especially upon a certain night,
about the space of three years last past, in Robert Durdant's house of Iver-court,
near unto Staines, you erroneously and damnably read in a great book of heresy
of the said Robert Durdant's, all that same night, certain chapters of the evan-
gelists in English, containing in them divers erroneous and damnable opinions
and conclusions of heresy, in the presence of the said Robert Durdant, John
Butler, Robert Carder, Jenkin Butler, William King,1 and divers other suspected
persons of heresy, then being present, and hearing your said erroneous lectures
and opinions.'
To the same effect and purpose tended the tenor of some of the
articles propounded against the other four ; whereby (as also by other
like ones before specified) Ave may easily judge what reverence those,
who yet will be counted the true and only church of Christ, did bear
to the word and gospel of Christ ; who shamed not to blaspheme the
same with most horrible titles of erroneous and damnable opinions
and conclusions of heresy. But why should we marvel thereat, seeing
the Holy Ghost, in sundry places of the Scripture, doth declare, that
in the latter days there should come such proud and cursed speakers,
who shall speak lies through hypocrisy, and have their consciences
marked with a hot iron ? Let us therefore now thank our heavenly
.Father for revealing them unto us ; and let us also pray him, that of
his free mercies in his Son Christ Jesus, he would (if it be to his
glory) cither turn and mollify all such hearts, or else (for the peace
and quietness of his church) he would, in his righteous judgment,
take them from us.
Death of About this time Richard Fitzjames ended his life, after whose
Fi'tCz'an death Cuthbert Tunstall (afterwards bishop of Durham) succeeded in
j™""; of the see and bishopric of London ; who soon, upon his first entry into
i.nmion. the room, minding to follow rightly the footsteps of his predecessor,
Tnnatau. caused Edmund Spilman, priest, Henry Chambers, John Higgins,
and Thomas Eglestone to be apprehended, and so to be examined
upon sundry like articles as before are expressed ; and in the end,
either for fear of his cruelty, and the rigour of death, or else through
hope of his flattering promises (such was their weakness), he com-
1 polled them to abjure and renounce their true professed faith touching
!k'nicd!L the holy sacrament of Christ's body and blood ; which was, that
Christ's corporal body was not in the sacrament, but in heaven ; and
that the sacrament was a figure of his body, and not the body itself.
Moreover, about the same time there were certain articles objected
pinst John Higges, alias Noke, alias Johnson, by the said bishop's
""" \ icar-general, amongst which were these : First, that he had affirmed,
that it was as lawful for a temporal man to have two Avives at once,
T.sti- ns ''"' u l"'il'st to have two benefices. Also, that he had in his custody
many a hook of the four evangelists in English, and did often read therein";
(') Of tin : b men nee more hereafter in the tabic following, page 221.
PERSECUTION IN THE DIOCESE OF LONDON. ] 79
and that he favoured the doctrines and opinions of Martin Luthei fr„™
openly pronouncing, that Luther had more teaming in his little finger *'"''•
than all the doctors in England in their whole bodies; and that all A.D.
the priests in the church were blind, and had led the people the wrong 1509
way. Likewise it was alleged against him, that he had denied pur°- , *?
gatory, and had said, that while he was alive he would do as much 1518'
for himself as he could, for after his death he thought that prayers Lather
and alms-deeds could little help him.
m These and such like matters were those wherewith these poor and
simple men and women were chiefly charged, and as heinous heretics
excommunicated, imprisoned, and at last compelled to recant: and
some of them, in utter shame and reproach (besides the ordinary
bearing of faggots before the cross in procession, or else at a sermon)
were enjoined for a penance, as they termed it, as well to appear once
every year before their ordinary, as also to wear the si^n of a fa^ot The
painted upon their sleeves, or other part of their outward garment; 3^h
and that, during all their lives, or so often and long as it pleased Pcna"ce-
their ordinary to appoint. By which long, rigorous, and open punish-
ing of them, they meant, as it should seem, utterly to' terrify and
keep back all others from the true knowledge of Jesus Christ and his
gospel. But the Lord be evermore praised, what effect their wicked
purposes therein have taken, these our most lightsome days of God's
glorious gospel do most joyfully declare.
There were also troubled, besides these, certain others more sim-
ple and ignorant, who, having but a very small smack or taste of the
truth, did yet at first (as it may seem) gladly consent unto the same ;
but, being apprehended, they quickly again yielded, and therefore had
only assigned them for their penance, the "bearing of a little candle
before the cross, without any further open abjuring or recanting.
Amongst these I find two especially ; the one a woman called Ellen The tnm-
Heyer, to whom it was objected, that she had neither confessed her- Sta?
self unto the priest, nor yet received the sacrament of the altar by ^p*
the space of four years ; and notwithstanding, had yearly eaten flesh Robert
at Easter, and after, as well as others that" had received the same, "aykt"
contrary to the usual manner and conversation of all other christian
people.
The other was a man named Robert Berkcway, who (besides most
wicked blasphemies against God which he utterly denied) was
charged to have spoken heinous words against the pope's holy and
blessed martyr, Thomas Beckct, calling 'him micher1 and thief, for
that he wrought by crafts and imaginations.
Thus have I, as briefly as I could, summarily collected the princi-
pal articles objected against these weak, infirm, and earthy vessels; not
minding hereby to excuse or condemn them in these their fearful falls
and dangerous defections : but, leaving them unto the immeasurable
rich mercies of the Lord, I thought only to make manifest the unsa-
lable bloody cruelty of the pope's kingdom against the gospel and
true church of Christ ; nothing mitigating their envious rage, no, not
against the very simple idiots ; and that sometimes in most frivolous
(1) "Micher," a covetous man.— Ed-
N.2
Against
transub-
stantia-
180 PERSECUTION IN THE DIOCESE OF LONDON.
iicnry and irreligious cases. But now, leaving to say any further herein, I
' IIL will, by God's grace, go forward with other somewhat more serious
A1)- matters.
1509
1518 Cfje ^eartj and JEartpruom of ODiniam &toeettn0, and %*ty\
23reto#ec.
In searching and perusing of the register, for the collection of the
names and articles before recited, I find that within the compass of
the same years there were also some others, who, after they had once
showed themselves as frail and inconstant as the rest (being either
therewith pricked in conscience, or otherwise zealously overcome with
the manifest truth of God's most sacred Word), became yet again as
earnest professors of Christ as ever they were before ; and for the
same profession were the second time apprehended, examined, con-
demned, and in the end wTere most cruelly burned. Of this number
were William Sweeting, and John Brewster, wrho were both burned
together in Smithfield, the 18th day of October, a. d. 1511.
The chief case of religion alleged against them in their articles, wras
their faith concerning the sacrament of Christ's body and blood,
X'T\T\ wnicn' because it differed from the- absurd, gross and Capernaitical
presence, opinion of the new schoolmen, was counted as most heinous heresy.
There were other things besides objected against them, as the reading
of certain forbidden books, and accompanying with such persons as
Cruel ri- were suspected of heresy. But one great and heinous offence counted
fheca- amongst the rest, was their putting and leaving off the painted
thoiic faggots, which they were at their first abjuring enjoined to wear as
against badges during their lives, or so long as it should please their ordinary
professors t° appoint, and not to leave them off upon pain of relapse, until they
''L"'ei were dispensed withal for the same. The breach of this injunction
was esteemed to be of no small weight, and yet the matter well and
thoroughly considered, it seemeth by their confessions, they were both
thereunto by necessity enforced. For the one, named Sweeting,
being for fear of the bishop's cruelty constrained to wander the coun-
tries to get his poor living, came at length unto Colchester, where, by
the parson of the parish of Mary Magdalen, he was provoked to be
the holy water clerk, and in that consideration had that infamous badge
first taken away from him. The other (who was Brewster) left off
his at the commandment of the comptroller of the earl of Oxford's
house, who, hiring the poor man to labour in the earl's household
business, would not suffer him, working there, to wear that counter-
feit cognizance any longer : so that, as I said, necessity of living
seemeth to compel both of them at first to break that injunction.
And therefore, if charity had borne as great sway in the hearts of the
pope's clergy, as did cruelty, this trifle would not have been so
liiinously taken, as to be brought against them for an article, and
cause of condemnation to death. But where tyranny once takcth
place, as well all godly love, as also all human reason and duties, are
quite forgotten.
Well, to be short, what for the causes before recited, as also for
that tluy had once already abjured, and yet, as they term it, fell
again into relapse, they were both, as you have heard, in the end
JOHN BROWNE, MARTYR, CRUELLY HANDLED. 181
burned together in Smithfield ; although the same parties, as tin- re- fifcwy
gistcr recordeth, did again, before their death, tearfully forsake their ""' _
former revived constancy, and submitting themselves unto the disci- A- D.
pline of the Romish church, craved absolution from their exconinm- 1309
nication. Howbeit, because many of the registers1 notes and records ,£?„
in such cases may rightly be doubted of, and so called into question, ■ '' ' ' -
I refer the certain knowledge hereof unto the Lord (who is the trier riSST1*"
of all truths), and the external judgment unto the godly and discreet ^taton*
reader: not forgetting yet by the way (if that the report should be of*e
true) upon so just an occasion, to charge that catholic clergy, and catholics?
their wicked laws, with a more shameless tyranny and uncharitable
cruelty than before : for if they nothing stay their bloody malice
towards such as so willingly submit themselves unto their mercies ;
what favour may the faithful and constant professors of Christ look
for at their hands ? I might here also ask of them, how they follow
the pitiful and loving admonition (or rather precept) of our Saviour
Christ (whose true and only church they so stoutly brag to be), who
in Luke xvii. saith, " Though thy brother sin against thee seven
times in a day, and seven times in a day turn to thee, saying, It re-
penteth me ; thou shalt forgive him." But what go I about to
allure them unto the following of the rule and counsel of Him, unto k0 mercy
whose word and gospel they seem most open and utter enemies? '"^
Wherefore not purposing to stay any longer thereupon, I will leave church,
them unto the righteous revengement of the Lord.
Hereunto let us now adjoin the story of one John Browne, a good
martyr of the Lord, burnt at Ashford about this fourth year of king
Henry VIII., whose story hereunder followeth.
3!ohn 2&rotone, Haactnc*1
The occasion of the first trouble of this John Browne, was by a
priest sitting in a Gravesend barge. John Browne, being at the same
time in the barge, came and sat hard by him ; whereupon, after cer-
tain communication, the priest asked him ; " Dost thou know," said
he, " who I am ? thou sittest too near me, thou sittest on my clothes :"
" No, sir," said he, " I know not what you are." " I tell thee I am
a priest." " What, sir ! are you a parson, or vicar, or a lady's chap-
lain ?" " No," quoth he again, " I am a soul-priest, I sing for a
soul," saith he. " Do you so, sir ?" quoth the other, " that is well
done ; I pray you sir," quoth he, " where find you the soul when
you go to mass "?" " I cannot tell thee," said the priest. " I pray
you, where do you leave it, Sir, when the mass is done ?" " I can-
not tell thee," said the priest. " Neither can you tell where you find
it when you go to mass, nor where you leave it when the mass is done ;
how can you then have the soul ?" said he. " Go thy ways," said the
priest, "thou art a heretic, and I will be even with thee." So at
the landing, the priest, taking with him Walter More, and William
More, two gentlemen, brethren, rode straightways to the archbishop
Warham. Hereupon the said John Browne within three days
(1) This John Browne was father to Richard Browne, who was in prison in Canterbury, and
should hare been burned, with two more besides himself, the next day after the death of quocn
Mary, but that by the proclaiming of queen Elizabeth, they escaped.
JS2 JOHN BKOWXK, MAETYE, CBUELLY HANDLED.
mnry after, his wife being churched the same clay, and he, bringing in a
""■ mess of pottage to the board to his guests, was sent for, and his feet
A.D. boiuul under his own horse, and so brought up to Canterbury ; neither
1509 his wife, nor he, nor any of his, knowing whither he went,1 nor
lrl?o whither he should : and there continuing from Low-Sunday, till the
— - — — Friday before Whitsunday (his wife not knowing all this while
where he was), he was set in the stocks overnight, and on the mor-
row went to death, and was burned at Ashford, a. d. 1517. The
same night, as he was in the stocks at Ashford, where he and his
wife dwelt, his wife then hearing of him, came and sat by him all the
night before he should be burned : to whom he, declaring the whole
story how he was handled, showed and told, how that he could not
set his feet to the ground, for they were burned to the bones ; and
John told her, how by the two bishops, Warham and Fisher, his feet were
Browne heated upon the hot coals, and burned to the bones, " to make me,1'
AstSbrd said he, " to deny my Lord, which I will never do ; for if I should
fourth the deny my Lord in this world, he would hereafter deny me.11 " I pray
•]|l^rof thee,11 said he, " therefore, good Elizabeth ! continue as thou hast
vni. begun, and bring up thy children virtuously, and in the fear of God."
And so the next day, on Whitsunday even, this godly mart}!: was
1 turned. Standing at the stake, this prayer he made, holding up his
hands :
' O Lord, I yield me to thy grace,
Grant me mercy for my trespass;
Let never the fiend my soul chase.
Lord, I will bow, and thou shalt beat,
Let never my soul come in hell-heat.'
1 Into thy hands I commend my spirit ; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord of
truth.'
And so he ended.2
At the fire one Chilton, the baily-arrant, bade cast in Browne's
children also, for they would spring, said he, of his ashes.
This blessed martyr, John Browne, had borne a faggot seven years
before, in the days of king Henry VII.
As it is the property of Satan ever to malice the prosperous estate
of the saints of God, and true professors of Christ ; so ceaseth he not
continually to stir up his wicked members to the effectual accom-
plishing of that which his envious nature so greedily desireth ; if not
always openly by colour of tyrannical laws, yet, at the leastwise, by
some subtle practice of secret murder; which thing doth most plainly
appear, not only in a great number of the blessed martyrs of Christ's
church, mentioned in this book, but also and especially in the dis-
course of this lamentable history that now I have in hand, concerning
the secret and cruel murdering of Richard Hun, whose story here
consequently ensueth, decerped and collected partly out of the regis-
ters of London, partly out of a bill exhibited and denounced in the
parliament-house.
(1) Chilton of Wey, a baily-amnt, and one Benre of Willesborough, with two of the bishop's ser-
vants, set him upon the horse, and so carried him away.
testimonio Alicia Browne, ejus Alias, cuius mariti nonien diccbatur Stiat. in parochia
Bt. Puled.
ARTICLES AGAINST HUN.
l.V,
€tyt ;§>torn of fiictjatD i'Jun, jUartpjr.' &gj
There was in the year of our tjord 151 1, one Richard Hun,
merchant-tailor, dwelling- within the city of London, and freeman of "• 1i)-
the same, who was esteemed during his life, and worthily reputed, to
and taken not only for a man of true dealing and good substance, but i-,is.
also for a good catholic man. Tliis Richard Hun had a child at nurse
in Middlesex, in the parish of St. Mary Matsilon, which died ; by the
occasion whereof one Thomas Dryfield, clerk, being parson of the said
parish, sued the said Richard Hun in the spiritual court, for a bearing-
sheet, which the said Thomas Dryfield claimed unjustly to have of
the said Hun, for a mortuary for Stephen Hun, son of the said
Richard Hun ; which Stephen being at nurse in the said parish, died,
being of the age of five weeks, and not above. Hun answered him
again, That forasmuch as the child had no propriety in the sheet, he
therefore neither would pay it, nor the other ought to have it.
Whereupon the priest, moved with a covetous desire, and loath to
lose his pretended right, ascitcd him to appear in the spiritual court,
there to answer the matter : whereupon the said Richard Hun, being
troubled in the spiritual court, was forced to seek counsel of the
learned in the law of this land, and pursued a writ of praemunire
against the said Thomas Dryfield, and others his aiders, counsellors,
proctors, and adherents, as by the process thereof is yet to be seen.
Which when the rest of the priestly order heard of, greatly disdain-
ing that any layman should so boldly enterprise such a matter against
any of them, and fearing also, that if they should now suffer this
priest to be condemned at the suit of Hun, there would be thereby
ever after a liberty opened unto all others of the laity to do the like
with the rest of the clergy in such like cases, they straightways, both The de-
to stop this matter, and also to be revenged of him for that he had demean-
already done, sought all means they possibly could how to entrap and °^tlie
brincr "him within the danger of their own cruel laws. And thereupon hoiy ca-
making secret and diligent inquisition, and seeking ail corners they be noted,
could against him, at length they found a means how to accuse him
of heresy unto Richard Fitzjames then bishop of London, and so did;
who (desirous to satisfy the revenging and bloody affection of his
chaplains), caused him thereupon to be apprehended and committed
unto prison within the Lollards1 tower at Paul's, so that none of his
friends might be suffered to come to him. Thus Richard Hun, being Huncom-
clapt in the Lollards1 tower, shortly after, at the earnest instigation ™;i,1,/,;!1'."
of Dr. Horsey, the bishop's chancellor (a man more ready to prefer tower.
the clergy's cruel tyranny, than the truth of Christ's gospel), was
brought before the bishop at his manor of Fulham, the 2d day of
December, in the year before mentioned, where, within his chapel, he
examined him upon these articles following, collected against him by
the said Horsey and his accomplices :
Articles objected against Richard Hun.
I. That he had read, taught, preached, published, and obstinately defended,
against the laws of Almighty God, that tithes, or paying of tithes, was never
ordained to be due, saving only by the covetousnoss of priests.
(1) The strenuous and successful efforts made by the leaden of the Popish party, and the rti n
ful exposures which ensued, render the history of llichard Ilun one of the most Interesting ou
record.— Ed.
134 ARTICLES AGAINST HUN.
fTimry [I* Item, That he had read, taught, preached, published, aud obstinately
VIII. defended, that bishops and priests be the Scribes and Pharisees that did crucify
Christ, and damned him to death.
III. Item, That he had read, taught, preached, &c, that bishops and priests
be teachers and preachers, but no doers, neither fulrillers of the law of God; but
catching, ravening, and all things taking, and nothing ministering, neither
giving.
IV. Item, Where and when one Joan Baker was detected and abjured of
many great heresies (as it appeareth by her abjuration), the said Richard Hun
said, published, taught, preached, and obstinately took upon him, saying, that
he would defend her and her opinions, if it cost him five hundred marks.
V. Item, afterwards, where and when the said Joan Baker, after her abjura-
tion, was enjoined open penance according to her demerits, the said Richard
Hun said, published, taught, and obstinately did defend her, saying, ' The
bishop of London and his officers have clone open wrong to the said Joan Baker,
in punishing her for heresy ; for her sayings and opinions be according to the
laws of God : wherefore the bishop and his officers are more worthy to be
punished for heresy than she is.'
VI. Item, That the said Richard Hun hath in his keeping divers English
books prohibited and damned by the law ; as the Apocalypse in English, epistles
and gospels in English, Wickliff's damnable works, and other books containing
infinite errors, in which he hath been a long time accustomed to read, teach,
and study daily.
Particular answer unto these several objections in the register I
find none, saving that next under them there is written in his name,
with a contrary hand, these words following : " As touching these
articles, I have not spoken them as they be here laid ; howbeit unad-
visedly I have spoken words somewhat sounding to the same, for
which I am sorry, and ask God mercy, and submit me to my lord's
This charitable and favourable correction ;" which they affirm to be written
smeUeth with Hun's own hand : but how likely to truth that is, let the discreet
radcxafty wisdom of the reader indifferently judge by the whole sequel of this
lacking, process. And further, if it were his own act, what occasion then had
they so cruelly to murder him as they did ? seeing he had already so
willingly confessed his fault, and submitted himself to the charitable
and favourable correction of the bishop (for which, even by their own
law, in cases of most heinous heresy, he ought to be again received
and pardoned) ; except perhaps they will account horrible murder to
Arpi- be but the bishop's favourable correction. Again, it seems they had
and tear very few credible witnesses to prove certainly that this was his answer
proving an(i hand-writing; for the registrar, or some other for him, appointed
B«?era"ot *° rccor(t tnc samc, hath certified it as of hearsay from others, and not
to be ot of his own proper sight and knowledge, as the words noted in the
margin of the book, adjoining to the aforesaid answer, plainly do
declare, which arc these : " Hoc fuit scriptum manu propria Ricardi
limine, ut diciiw? Now if he had any sure ground to establish
this certificate, I doubt not but he would, instead of " ut dicitur,1'
have registered the names of the assistants at the time of his examina-
tion (which he confesseth to be many), as generally they do in all
their acts, especially in cases of heresy, as they term it. But how
scrupulous those good fellows that spared not so shamelessly to murder
him, would be to make a lie of him that was already dead, let, as I
said, the indifferent judgment of the godlywisc discern.
This examination ended, the bishop sent him back again the same
day onto the Lollards' tower; and then, by the appointment of Dr.
s
M
136 ARTICLES AGAINST HUN AFTER HIS DEATH.
Hm*v most likely, that if the party were once condemned of heresy, the inquest
rt"- dust not then but find him guilty of his own death, and so clearly
A. I), acquit them from all the former suspicion of privy murder. This de-
1509 termination of theirs they did immediately put in practice, in order as
*? followcth:
1,)]S- First, besides the articles before mentioned, which they affirm were
Dr. Hed 0Djected against him in his life-time, Dr. Hcd did now also after his
°f«i»e " death collect certain others out of the prologue of his English Bible,
remaining then in the bishop's hands, which he diligently perused, not
to learn any good thing therein, but to get thereout such matter as he
thought might best serve their cursed purpose ; as appeareth by the
tenor of the articles, which arc these :'
New Articles commenced against Hun after his Death.
I. First, The said book damneth all holy' canons, calling them ceremonies
and statutes of sinful men and uncunning, and calleth the pope Satan, and Anti-
christ.
II. Item, It damneth the pope's pardons, saying they be but leasings.
III. Item, The said book of Him saith, that kings and lords, called christian
in name, and heathen in conditions, defile the sanctuary of God, bringing clerks
full of covetousness, heresy, and malice, to stop God's law, that it cannot be
known, kept, and freely preached.
IV. Item, The said book saith, that lords and prelates pursue full cruelly
them that would teach truly and freely the law of God, and cherish them that
preach sinful men's traditions and statutes ; by which he meaneth the holy
canons of Christ's church.
V. Item, That poor men and idiots have the truth of the holy Scriptures, more
than a thousand prelates, and religious men, and clerks of the school.
VI. Item, That christian kings and lords set up idols in God's house, and
excite the people to idolatry.
VII. Item, That princes, lords, and prelates so doing, be worse than Herod
that pursued Christ, and worse than Jews and heathen men that crucified Christ.
VIII. Item, That every man, swearing by our lady, or any other saint or
creature, giveth more honour to the saints than to the Holy Trinity; and so he
saith they be idolaters.
IX. Item, He saith that saints ought not to be honoured.
X. Item, He damneth adoration, prayer, kneeling, and offering to images,
which he calleth stocks and stones.
XI. Item, He saith, that the very body of the Lord is not contained in the
sacrament of the altar, but that men receiving it, shall thereby keep in mind
that Christ's flesh was wounded and crucified for us.
XII. Item, He damneth the university of Oxford, with all degrees and facul-
ties in it, as art, civil, canon, and divinity ; saying, that they hinder the true
way to come to the knowledge of the laws of God and holy Scripture.
XIII. Item, He defendeth the translation of the Bible and the holy Scrip-
ture into the English tongue, which is prohibited by the laws of our mother, holy
church.2
These articles thus collected, as also the others before specified, they
caused, for a more show of their pretended justice and innocency, to
be openly read the next Sunday following, by the preacher at Paul's
Cross, with this protestation made before.
' Masters nnd friends, for certain causes and considerations, I have in £om-
mandment to rehearse, show, and publish here unto you, the articles of heresy
(1) Ex Regint, R. Fitzjamcs, Lond.
(2) A 'holy mother church' which cannot abide the word of Uodto be translated!
THE CONDEMNATION OF HUN. 187
upon which Richard Hun was detected and examined : and also other great jiewy
articles and damnable points and opinions of heresy contained in some of his f iJ'-
books, which be come to light and knowledge here ready to be shown.' ^ ^)
1509
And therewith he read the articles openly unto the people, con- to
eluding with these words :
1511
' And masters, if there be any man desirous to see the specialty of these The
articles, or doubt whether they be contained in this book or not, for satisfying 1|,sh°Ps
of his mind let him come to my lord of London, and he shall see it with good J",'/, at
will. P**'*
'- Moreover, here I counsel and admonish, that if there be any persons that !|™?*st
of their siir.pleness have been familiar and acquainted with the said Richard Hun.
Hun in these articles, or have heard him read upon this book, or any other
sounding to heresy, or have any like books themselves, let them come unto my
lord of London betwixt this and Candlemas next, and acknowledge their fault,
and they shall be charitably treated and dealt withal, so that both their goods
and honesty shall be saved : and if they will not come of their own offer, but
abide the process of the law, then at their own peril be it, if the rigour of the
law be executed against them.'
After which open publication and admonition, the bishop at sundry
times examined clivers of his priests, and other lay-persons, upon the
contents of both these articles. Among which examinatcs there was
a man-servant and a maid of the said Hun's, who, although they had
of long time dwelt with him, were not able to charge him with any
great thing worthy of reprehension, no, not in such points as the
bishop chiefly objected against him. But yet the priests (through
whose procurement this mischief was first begun) spared no whit stoutly
and maliciously to accuse him, some in the contents of the first articles,
and some in the second. Wherefore having now, as they thought,
sufficient matter against him, they purposed speedily to proceed to
his condemnation ; and because they would seem to do all things for-
mally, and by prescript order, they first drew out certain short and
summary rules,1 by which the bishop should be directed in this solemn
session ; which are these :
I. First, Let the bishop sit in his tribunal-seat in our lady's chapel.
II. Secondly, Let him recite the cause of his coming, and take notaries to
him, to enact what shall be there done.
III. Thirdly, Let him declare, how upon Sunday last, at Paul's Cross, he Mark the
caused to be published a general monition or denunciation, that all fautors and [£?""*™f
maintainers of Richard Hun should come in as by this day, and submit them- ce^i,'^,
selves : and let him signify withal, how certain have come in, and have appeared
already.
IV. Fourthly, Let him protest and say, that if there remain any yet behind,
who have not appeared according to the former monition and denunciation,
yet if they will come and appear, and submit themselves, they shall be heard
and received with grace and favour.
V. Fifthly, Let the bishop, or some other at his appointment, recite the
articles objected against Richard Hun in the time of his life, and then the
other articles likewise, which were out of his great book of the Bible extracted.
VI. Sixthly, Let the answers and confessions of the said Richard Hun smn-
marily be recited, witli the attestations made to the same articles. Also let
his books be exhibited, and then Thomas Brooke, his servant, be called for.
VII. Seventhly, Let it be openly cried at the choir door, that if there be
any who will defend the articles, opinions, books, or the memory of the said
P) li:< I'.r 1st. a. Fi..:j.i:i>cs. Lund.
188 THE SENTENCE DEFINITIVE AGAINST HUN AFTER HTS DEATH.
_ Richard Hun, let them come and appear, and they shall be heard as the law in
rill, that behalf shall require.
' VIII. Eighthly, Let it he openly cried, as in manner hefore, for such as he
1509 m.ejvt.rs favourers, defenders, or believers of the said Richard Hun, that all
t<x such do appear and submit themselves to the bishop, or else he intendeth to
1518. proceed to the excommunication of them in general, according to the exigence
of the law in that behalf.
IX. Ninthly, Let the bishop speak to the standers-by, aud to those of the
clergy who sit with him upon the bench, demanding of them, what their judg-
ment and opinion is touching the premises ? and whether they think it con-
venient and agreeable for him to proceed to the sentence against the said
Richard Hun, in this part to be awarded ?
X. Tenthly, After their consent and counsel given, let the bishop read out
the sentence.
XL Finally, After the sentence read, let the bishop appoint the publication
and denunciation of the aforesaid sentence to be read at Paul's Cross, or else-
where, as to him shall seem expedient; with a citation likewise generally against
all those that be receivers, favourers, and believers of the said Hun, to give to
understand why he ought not further to proceed against them, &c.
A SOLEMN PROCESS OF FITZJAMES, BISHOP OF LONDON, AGAINST
HUN, BEING DEAD.
Now according to the tenor of these prescripts and rules, the
bishop of London, accompanied with the bishops of Durham and
Lincoln, sat in judgment the 16th day of December then next follow-
ing, within the place by the same appointed ; adjoining also unto
them, as witnesses of their proceedings, six public notaries, his own
register, and about twenty-five doctors, abbots, priors, and priests of
name, with a great rabble of other common anointed catholics :
where, after a solemn proclamation made, that if there were any that
would defend the opinions and books of Richard Hun, they should
presently appear and be heard according to law, he commanded all
the articles and objections against Hun openly to be read before the
assembly: and then, perceiving that none durst appear in his defence,
by the advice of his assistants he pronounced the sentence definitive
against the dead carcase, condemning it of heresy ; and therewith
committed the same unto the secular power, to be by them burned
accordingly. This ridiculous decree was as fondly accomplished in
Smithfield on the twentieth day of the same month of December
(being full sixteen days after they had thus horribly murdered
death, him) to the great grief and disdain of all the people. And because
the bishop, in his sentence definitive, useth a more formal and ample
order of words than accustomably is used in others, and also pre-
tendcth full hypocritically in the beginning, as it were by way of
induction, divers causes that moved him to proceed against the
dead carcase; I thought good therefore here to adjoin the same,
as a final conclusion of their crafty coloured tragedy, the tenor whereof
is hereunder written.1
(1) The sentence definitive against Richard Hun after his death.
In Del nomine, Amen. Cum nuper (pendente sacra synodo, et general] pnrlatomm et cleri
provincial Cantuariensis convocatione, in ecclesia nostra cathedrali sancti Pauli London, per
prcelatoi el clerum provincial Cantuariensis, actualitcr ibidem exercita) contijiisset, quod quidam
ELichardui Hunnede parocliia sancta- Marjjaret.-p in Ilrifre-strcte Lond. de ct super crimine ha-rc-
OetB pravitatis iintatus ct ditlamatus extitisset: revcrendissimus in Christo pater et dominus,
don linns Williclinus miseratione divina Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, totius Anglia- prinias, it
•I11 '"in ■<• M-'lis li'iratus, ipsius vcneraliilis cactus et convocations caput et praisidens, ex vehe-
mentibua el vlolentU (quae contra eundem Richardum limine super ha-rctica pravitate tune
babebat) pwesumptlonibua contra eundem Richardum, debitam faceie Inquieitionem cuplens, ut
The
corpse of
Hun
burned
alter his
THE SENTENCE DEFINITIVE AGAINST HUN, AFTEK HIS DEATH. 189
Notwithstanding, after all this tragical and cruel handling of the '//•»'.</
dead body, and their fair and colourable show of justice, yet the in-
quest no whit stayed their diligent searching out of the true cause 1 •"><)<)
and means of his death. Insomuch that when they had been divers *°
times called both before the king's privy-council (his majesty himself °
being sometimes present), and also before the chief judges and justices
of this realm, and that the matter being by them throughly examined,
and perceived to be much bolstered and borne withal by the clergy,
was again wholly remitted unto their determination and ending ; they
found by good proof, and sufficient evidence, that Dr. Horsey the Dr. Hor-
chancellor, Charles Joseph the simmer, and John Spalding the bell- ceMar, "
ringer, had privily and maliciously committed this murder; and j(,)'s"rl"
therefore indicted them all three as wilful murderers. Howbcit, and
through the earnest suit of the bishop of London unto cardinal murder-'
Wolsey (as appeareth by his letters hereafter mentioned), means Rfc°/ar(1
were found, that at the next sessions of gaol-delivery the king's H"»-
attorney pronounced the indictment against Dr. Horsey to be false
and untrue, and him not to be guilty of the murder ; who, being
then thereby delivered in body, having yet in himself a guilty con-
science, gat him unto Exeter, and durst never after for shame come
again unto London. But now that the truth of all this may seem
more manifest and plain unto all men's eyes, here shall follow, word
by word, the whole inquiry and verdict of the inquest, exhibited by
(si ratione hseresis hujusmodi membrum fuissct a corpore Christi mystico praeeisum) ipsum ad
caput et corpus (id est, Christum, sancta;que matris ecclesiae unitatem) per salutaria monita etcon-
dignani pcenitentiam revocaret et reduceret : ne idem Richardus inter simplices et devotas Christi
fidelium et catholicorumanimas coerrando, et zizania haeretica seminando, fidelium mentes macu-
laret et inficeret, et sinistris ac perversis assertionibus et opinionibus, a veritatis semita et vera
fide Christiana aberrare faceret; ad effectumcitandi eum ad comparendum coram dicto reverendis-
simo patre et domino architpiscopo, suisque coepiscopis et suffraganeis, cajterisque illius concionis
sive sacra synodi praelatis, super praemissis responsurum perquiri fecit et mandavit. Verum
idem Richardus apprehendi non potuit. Unde dictus reverendissimus Pater suum tam pium, tarn
sanctum et laudabile propositum ad effectum perducere non potuit. Quod cum nos Richardus
permissionedivina Londinensis episcopus, dicti Richardi ordinarius, (cui etiamtanquam de haeresi
Buspectus, idem Richardus a multis retroactis temporibus delatus et detectus extiterat) intellexe-
rimus, non volentes nee audentes pra?dicta facinora silentio et conniventibus oculis pertransire et
praetermittere, ne ob nostram negligentiam, et torporem sanguis ejus in districto examine, sive
Dei judicio, de manibus nostris requiratur, volentes certiorari et informari an ea quae de ipso et
contra eum nobis delata et dicta fuerant, veritate aliqua fulcitentur, et an in luce vel in tenebris
ambularet, ne fortasse ovis morbida existens, innocuas animas gregis dominici pestifera lueresi
corrumperet et inficeret, ad informandum animum nostrum, ipsum coram nobis vocandum, et
super praemissis diligenter interrogandum et examinandum, omniaque faciendum, quae secundum
canonicas sanctiones erant facienda (ejus animam pio et paterno zelantes affectu), descendimus et
properavimus : contra quern objectis judicialiter et propositis publice in judicio articulis, de et
super quibus nobis (utpra'fertur) delatus, detectus, et notatus fuerat. Quos pervenerabilcm virum
magistrum Johannem Downam hie publice jam lectos, pro hie lectis et insertis habemus et haberi
volumus; habitisque etreceptis ad eosdem articulos responsionilms et confcssionlbus suis. Deinde
testes fide dignos de et super eisdem articulis et aliis contra dictum Richardum in debits juris
forma recepimus, admisimus, et diligenter examinari fecimus; propositdquc nuper per nos verbo
Dei ad crucem divi Pauli, ejus detestabiles haereses eterrores, in articulis et libris suis, quibus usus
est, comprehensas, in ejus et ipsorum detestationem et damnationem publicantcs, atque publico
recitantes, populo in magna multitudine ibidem tunc congregato, notificavimus et intimavinius:
Quod isto die contra eundem Richardum, tanquam contra hareticum, ad ipsiusque condemna-
tionem et excommunicationem in specie, ad aliaque in hac parte requisita, necnon ad excommu-
nicationem receptatorum, defensorum, fautorum, et credentium ipsius in genere, juxta canonicas
sanctiones, sanctorum patrum decreta, et omnem juris vigorem et dispositionem, Deo duce, pro-
cedere intendebamus : monitionemque sive denunciationem quandam generalem dedimus et feci-
mus tunc ibidem, videlicet, quod si qui fuerint ejus receptatores.defensores, fautores, et credentes,
uu6d citra hunc diem ad nos et sanctae matris ecclesi:e giemium redirent, et se submitturent :
quod si facerent (de misericordia omnipotentis Dei conlisi), polliciti sumus quod ipsos de errori-
bus et reatibus suis hujusmodi pcenitentes, cum gratia, benignitate, misericordia, et favore, adani-
niarum suarum solatium et salutem reciperimus, quodque bonestatem eorum pro posse serva-
remus in hac parte. Alioquin si sic sponte venire non curarent, sed juris ordinarium processum
expectarent ; scirent nos hoc admissum adversus eos severius exeouturos, in quantum jura permit-
terent. Adveniente itaque jam die isto, ad praeniissa et infra scripia facienda, sic ut praefertur,
per nos praetixo, nos Richardus episcopus antedictus, in negotio Lnquisitionis ha-rctica; pra-
ditatis praedictre legitime procedentes, volentesque, hujusmodi Degotium sine debito terminare,
solenne concilium tam in sacra theologica facilitate, quam jure canonico et civili doctorum,
et hunc venerabilem ccetum cleri et populi coram nobis fecimus congregarv; et visis, auditis,
intelleetis, rimatis, ac diligenter et niatura dcliberatione discussis meritis et ciicumstantiis
100 THE VERDICT OF THE INQUEST CONCERNING HUN
Henry tllClll UJltO th(
his own hand.
iienry them unto the coroner of London, and so given up and signed with
THE VERDICT OF THE INQUEST.
Lr>1S. The fifth and the sixth day of December, in the sixth year of the reign of our
sovereign lord king Henry VIII., William Barnwell, coroner of London, the
day and year abovesaid, within the ward of Castle-Baynard of London, assem-
bled a quest, whose names afterward do appear, and hath sworn them truly to
inquire of the death of one Richard Hun, which lately was found dead in the
Lollards' tower within Paul's church of London : Whereupon all we of the in-
quest together went up into the said tower, where we found the body of the
said Hun hanging upon a staple of iron, in a girdle of silk, with fair counte-
nance, his head fair kemped, and his bonnet right sitting upon his head, with
his eye and mouth fair closed, without any staring, gaping or frowning, also
without any drivelling or spurging in any place of his body : Whereupon by one
assent all we agreed to take down the dead body of the said Hun, and as soon
as we began to heave the body it was loose : whereby, by good advisement, we
perceived that the girdle had no knot about the staple, but it was double-cast ;
and the links of an iron chain, which did hang on the same staple, were laid
upon the same girdle whereby lie did hang ; Also the knot of the girdle that
went about his neck, stood under his left ear, which caused his head to lean
towards his right shoulder. Notwithstanding there came out of his nostrils
two small streams of blood to the quantity of four drops. Save only these four
drops of blood, the face, lips, chin, doublet, collar, and shirt of the said Hun
were clean from any blood. Also we find that the skin both of his neck and
throat, beneath the girdle of silk, was fret and failed away, with that thing
which the murderers had broken his neck withal. Also the hands of the said
Hun were wrung in the wrists, whereby we perceived that his hands had been
bound.
Moreover, we find that within the said prison was no mean whereby a man
negotii memorati, actisque et actitatis in eodem productis et deductis praedictorum, digesto et
mature concilio (cum nullus appareat contradictor seu defensor, qui dicti Richardi opiniones,
articulos, et memoriam defendero velit), solum Deum oculis nostris, proponentes ad sententiam
nostram contra eum, ejus opiniones et libros, receptatoresque, fautores, defensores, et credentes,
se nobis juxta tenorem et formam monitionis et denunciationis nostrarum pnedictarum minimi
submittentes, nee ad gremium sanctae matris ecclesiae redire curantes, licet quidam salvationis
pii filii citra monitionem et denunciationem nostras praedictas ad nos venerunt, et se submise-
runt, quos cam gratia et favore recepimus in hac parte ferendam, sic duximus procedendum
et procedimus in hunc qui sequitur modum. Quia per acta actitata, inquisita, deducta, confessata,
et probata, necnon per vehementes et urgentes prasumptiones, et judicia perspicua compcrimus
luculenter, et invenimus dictum Richardum Hunne crimine hfereticaa pravitatis multipliciter
irri'tihim, atque hoereticum fuisse et esse, nonnullasque opiniones et assertiones detestabiles et
haereses damnates, dum in humanis agebat, et vitales caperet auras, afhrmasse, proposuisse, et
recitasse, librisque suspectis, et de jure damnatis, et nonnullas haereses pestiferas in se continen-
tibus usum fuisse, receptisque, admissis et examinatis testibus per commissarios ad hoc depu-
tatos de et super impcenitentia finali, pertinacia, et obitu dicti Richardi Hunne: Idcirco nos
Rlchardus episcopus antedictus, servatis servandis (prout in tali negotio postulat ordo juris),
(a) dicti Richardi Hunne impcenitentia ac finali" obstinatia et pertinacia, per evidentia signa testibus
legitimis, vehementissimis et violentis praesumptionibus comprobatis, prout jam coram nobis
legitime extitit facta fides, edicto apud crucem ,divi Pauli, die dominico ultimo prasterito, ad
audiendum et per nos ferendum sententiam, ad hunc diem per nos publice facto et proposito :
propterea de hujux vcnerabilis coctus (videlicet, reverendorum patrum, dominorum Thomas
Dunelnuiisis, et Wilhclmi Lincolniensis, ac Johannis Calipolensis, episcoporum, necnon in sacra
theologia, decretorum, et legum dectorum, et cleri, atque proborum et venerabilium virorum,
domini majoris, aldermanorum, et vicecomitum civitatis Londinensis, et populi hie congregato-
runi, et nobis in hac parte assidentium et assistentium) consensu, assensu, et consilio, eundem
Richardum Hunne diversarum haresium libris, dum vixit, usum fuisse, ac notorium et pertina-
cem impenitentem haereticum fuisse, ac in haeresi decesisse, atque conscientia criminis et metu
fntur;c Bententiae, animo pertinaci et impcenitenti, corde indurato obiisse et decesisse, praeraisso-
rumque prretextu de jure excommunicatum fuisse et esse, atque in excommunicatione hujusmodi
decessisse, ipsiusque receptatores, fautores, defensores, et credentes, etiam in genere de jure
fcxcon.inunicatns, atque sententia majoris excommunicationis innodatoset involutos fuisse et esse
pronunciamus, deceniimus, et declaramus: ipsum Richardum Hunne et libros suos lux'reticos de
jure damnatos, suamque ac librorum ipsorum memoriam in detestationem et damnationem sceleris
it crftnlnis liiijusmodi condemnamus : dictumque Richardum Hunne (ob prcemissa), ecclesiastica
can-re dc-bcre sepultura sententiamus, etiam pronunciamus, decernimus, et declaramus, et in foro
< la-iirn t.iiu|ii:un membrum putridum projicimus, corpusque suum et ossa brachio et potestati
ncnJaii teUnqulmui et coimnittimus, juxta et secundum canonicas et legitinias sniictiones, con-
*'"'" " j1"' ' ludabllei in regno Anglia- ah antiquo usitatas et ohservatas, in opprobrium sempi-
icriitiin .-I ,|. I, ■•.tationcm rrimuiis ncfandissimi pnedicti, ad reternamque hujus rei memoriam,
rnmquc Chnsti hdelium metum atque terrorem, per banc nostram sententiam, sive
cnale aecretum, quam sive quod ferimus et promulgamus in his scriptis.
.!,"} m'',',1 ll";,l,1,',K',i,"^y •», ^ l»im, when you say before, that by his own hand-writing he
MibmitU'd himself to the biflhop'e favourable correction!
THE VERDICT OF THE INQUEST CONCERNING HUN. 191
might hang himself, but only a stool ; which stool stood upon a bolster of a bed, Henry
so tickle, that any man or beast might not touch it so little, but it was ready to iUI-
fall : whereby we perceived, that it was not possible that Hun might hang , ,.
himself, the stool so standing. Also all the girdle from the staple to his neck, i.'Q'
as well as the part which went about his neck, was too little for his head to '
come out thereat. Also it was not possible that the soft silken girdle should 15]8
break his neck or skin beneath the girdle. Also we find in a corner, somewhat ° ' '
beyond the place where he did hang, a great parcel of blood. Also we find
upon the left side of Hun's jacket, from the breast downward, two great
streams of blood. Also within the flap of the left side of his jacket we find a
great cluster of blood, and the jacket folden down thereupon : which thing the
said Hun could never fold nor do after he was hanged : whereby it appcareth
plainly to us all, that the neck of Hun was broken, and the great plenty of
blood was shed, before he was hanged. Wherefore all we find, by God and all
our consciences, that Richard Hun was murdered. Also we acquit the said
Richard Hun of his own death.
Also there was an end of a wax-candle, which, as John the bellringer saith,
he left in the prison burning with Hun that same Sunday night that Hun was
murdered ; which wax-candle we found sticking upon the stocks, fair put out,
about seven or eight foot from the place where Hun was hanged, which candle,
after our opinion, was never put out by him, for many likelihoods which we
have perceived.
Also at the going up of master chancellor into the Lollards' tower, we have
good proof that there lay on the stocks a gown, either of murrey,1 or crimson
in grain, furred with shanks : whose gown it was we could never prove, neither
who bare it away. All we find, that Master William Horsey, chancellor to my
lord of London, hath had at his commandment both the rule and guiding of the
said prisoner.. Moreover, all we find, that the said Master Horsey, chancellor,
hath put Charles Joseph out of his office, as the said Charles hath confessed,
because he would not deal and use the said prisoner so cruelly, and do to him
as the chancellor would have had him to do. Notwithstanding the deliverance
of the keys to the chancellor by Charles, on the Saturday night before Hun's
death, and Chailes riding out of the town on that Sunday in the morning en-
suing, was but a convention made betwixt Charles and the chancellor to colour
the murder. For the same Sunday that Charles rode forth, he came again to
the town at night, and killed Richard Hun, as in the depositions of Julian
Littel, Thomas Chicheley, Thomas Simondes, and Peter Turner, doth appear.
After colouring of the murder betwixt Charles and the chancellor conspired,
the chancellor called to him one John Spalding, bellringer of Paul's, and de-
livered to the same bellringer the keys of the Lollards' tower, giving to the
said bellringer a great charge, saying, I charge thee to keep Hun more straitly
than he hath been kept, and let him have but one meal a day ; moreover, I
charge thee let nobody come to him without my license, neither to bring him
shirt, cap, kerchief, or any other thing, but that I see it before it come to* him.
Also before Hun was carried to Fulham, the chancellor commanded to be put
upon Hun's neck a great collar of iron, with a great chain, which is too heavy
for any man or beast to wear, and long to endure.
Moreover, it is well proved, that before Hun's death the said chancellor Proofs of
came up into the said Lollards' tower, and kneeling down before Hun, held J1"^5
up his hands to him, praying of him forgiveness of all that he had done to him,
and must do to him. And on Sunday following the chancellor commanded the
penitentiary of Paul's to go up to him and say a gospel, and make for him holy
water, and holy bread, and give it to him, which he did : and also the chan-
cellor commanded that Hun should have his dinner. And the same dinner-
time Charles, the boy, was shut in prison with Hun, which was never so before;
and after dinner, when the bellringer fetched out the boy, the bellringer said
to the same boy, ' Come no more hither with meat for him till to-morrow at
noon, for my master chancellor hath commanded that he should have but one
meal a day.' And the same night following Richard Hun was murdered, which
murder could not have been done without consent and license of the chancellor,
and also by the witting and knowledge of John Spalding, bellringer ; for there
(1) " Murrey," mulberry colour. — Ed.
MIIIIIRT.
192 DEPOSITIONS CONCERNING THE MURDER OF HUN.
Henry could no man come into the prison but by the keys, being in John the bellringer's
/'///. keeping. Also, as by my lord of London's book doth appear, John the bellringer
' is a poor innocent man. Wherefore all we do perceive, that this murder could
not be done but by the commandment of the chancellor, and by the witting
1^9 and knowing of John the bellringer.
1518. Charles Joseph, within the Tower of London, of his own free will, and un-
' — constrained, said, That master chancellor devised, and wrote with his own
n,1'^ "r'" hand, all such heresies as were laid to Hun's charge; record John God, John
Charlei True, John Pasmere, Richard Gibson, with many others. Also Charles Joseph
" |lh saith, That when Richard Hun was slain, John the bellringer bare up the stairs
into the Lollards' tower a wax-candle, having the keys of the doors hanging on
his arm ; and I Charles went next to him, and master chancellor came up last :
and when all we came up, we found Hun lying on his bed ; and then master
chancellor said, ' Lay hands on the thief;' and so all we murdered Hun : and
then I Charles put the girdle about Hun's neck; and then John bellringer
and I Charles did heave up Hun, and master chancellor pulled the girdle over
the staple ; and so Hun was hanged.
The Deposition of Julian Littell, late servant of Charles Joseph, by
her free will, unconstrained, the sixth year of our Sovereign Lord
King Henry the Eighth, within the chapel of our Lady of Beth-
lehem, showed to the Inquest.
First, Julian saith, That the Wednesday at night, after the death of Richard
Hun, Charles Joseph her master came home to his supper : then Julian said to
him, ' Master, it was told me that ye were in prison.' Charles answered, ' It
is merry to turn the penny :' and after supper Charles trussed up a parcel of his
goods, and with help of Julian, bare them into Mr. Porter's house to keep :
and that done, Charles said to Julian ; ' Julian, if thou wilt be sworn to keep
my counsel, I will show thee my mind.' Julian answered, ' Yea, if it be
neither felony nor treason.' Then Charles took a book out of his purse, and
Julian sware to him thereupon. Then said Charles to Julian, ' I have destroyed
Richard Hun!' 'Alas, master,' said Julian, 'how? he was called an honest
man.' Charles answered, 'I put a wire in his nose.' 'Alas,' said Julian, 'now
be ye cast away and undone.' Then said Charles, ' Julian, I trust in thee that
thou wilt keep my counsel :' And Julian answered, ' Yea, but for God's sake,
master, shift for yourself.' And then Charles said, ' I had leefer than 100 pound
it were not done ; but what is done cannot be undone.' Moreover Charles said
then to Julian, ' Upon Sunday, when I rode to my cousin Barington's house, I
tarried there and made good cheer all day till it was night ; and yet before it
was midnight I was in London, and had killed Hun. And upon the next day
I rode thither again, and was there at dinner, and sent for neighbours, and
made good cheer.' Then Julian asked Charles, 'Where set you your horse
that night you came to town, and wherefore came you not home ?' Charles an-
swered, ' I came not home for fear of bewraying.' And then Julian asked
Charles, ' Who was with you at the killing of Hun V Charles answered, ' I will
not tell thee.' And Julian saith that upon the Thursday following Charles
tarried all day in his house with great fear : and upon Friday following, early
in the morning before day, Charles went forth, as he said, to Paul's; and at his
coming in again he was in a great fear, saying hastily, ' Get me my horse ;' and
with great fear and haste made him ready to ride ; and bade Master Porter's
lad lead his horse into the field by the backside. And then Charles put into
his sleeve his mace, or masor, with other plate borrowed of Master Porter, both
gold and silver ; but how much I am not sure : and Charles went into the field
utter his horse, and Julian brought his budget after him. Also upon Friday in
Christinas week following, Charles came home late in the night, and brought
with him three bakers and a smith of Stratford, and the same night they carried
out of Charles's house, all his goods by the fieldside, to the Bell in Shoreditch,
and early in the morning conveyed it with carts to Stratford.
Moreover Julian saith, That the Saturday at night before the death of Hun,
Charles came home, and brought with him a gurnard, saying, it was for Hun ;
and Charles's boy told Julian, that there was also ordained a piece of fresh
Salmon, which John the bellringer had.
DEPOSITIONS CONCERNING THE MURDER OF HUN. 193
Also Charles said to the said Julian, ' Were not this ungracious trouble, I Henry
could bring my lord of London to the doors of heretics in London, both of men vni
and women, that be worth a thousand pounds; but I am afraid that the ungra- A.D.
cious midwife shall bewray us all.' 1509
Also Charles said unto Mrs. Porter likewise and more largely, speaking of to
the best in London : whereto Mrs. Porter answered, 'The best in London is 1518.
my lord mayor.' Then Charles said, ' I will not excuse him quite, for that he
taketh this matter so hot.'
Whereas Charles Joseph saith he lay at Neckhill with a harlot, a man's wife,
in Barington's house, the same night that Richard Hun was murdered, and
there abode until the morrow at eleven of the clock ; and thereupon brought
before the king's council, for bis purgation, the aforesaid woman, Barington's wife, -f
and also the other woman : this purgation we have proved all untrue, as
right largely may appear, as well by the deposition of Julian Littel, as of
Thomas Chicheley, tailor, Thomas Simondes, stationer, of Robert Johnson and
his wife, and of John Spalding, bellringer : also of Peter Turner, son-in-law of the The wit-
aforesaid Charles Joseph ; who said before, to an honest woman, a wax- "ess of
chandler's wife, that before this day seventh-night Hun should have a mis- T^er.
chievous death, &c. Also of John Enderby, baker, to whom John Spalding The wit-
himself declai-ed these words : That there was ordained for Hun so grievous "ess of
penance, that when men hear of it, they shall have great marvel thereof, &c. ; spaidiuC
besides the deposition moreover of Allen Creswell, wax-chandler, and Richard iiimstir.
Horsenail, bailiff of the sanctuary town called Godsture, in. Essex. Which
testimonies and depositions hereafter follow
* The Deposition of Thomas Chicheley, Tailor.1
The said Thomas sayeth : The same Monday that Richard Hun was found
dead, within a quarter of an hour after seven o'clock in the morning, he met
with Charles Joseph, coming out of St. Paul's, at the nether north door, going
toward Paternoster row, saying, ' Good morrow, Master Charles !' and the said
Charles answered, ' Good morrow !' and turned his back, when he was without
the church door, and looked upon the said Chicheley.
* The Deposition of Thomas Simondes, Stationer.
He sayeth, That the same morning that Hun was dead, within a quarter of
an hour after seven o'clock in the morning, Charles Joseph came before him at
his stall, and said, ' Good morrow, gossip Simondes!' and the said Simondes
said, ' Good morrow' to him again ; and the wife of the said Simondes was by
him ; and because of the deadly countenance and hasty going of Charles, the
said Thomas bade his wife look whither Charles goeth ; and as she could per-
ceive, Charles went into an alehouse standing in Paternoste.r-row, by the alley
leading into the road of Northern, or into the alley, whither, she could not well tell.
* The Deposition of Robert Johnson and his Wife, dwelling at the
Bell, in Shoreditch.2
The said Robert sayeth, That Charles Joseph sent his horse to his house upon a
holyday, at night, about three weeks before Christmas, by a boy ; which horse was
all besweat and all bemired : and the said boy said, ' Let my father's horse stand
saddled, for I cannot tell whether my father will ride again to night or not ;' and
the said horse stood saddled all night, and in the morning following, Charles came
booted and spurred about eight of the clock, and asked if his horse was saddled ?
and the servant answered, ' Yea.' And the said Charles leaped upon his horse,
and prayed the host to let him out of his back gate, that he might ride out by
the field side ; which host so did. And, because he was uncertain of the day,
we asked him if he heard speak of the death of Hun at that time or not, and he
(1) The depositions of witnesses, distinguished hy asterisks, arc inserted from the edition of 1563,
pp. 393-395.— Ed.
(2) Where Charles Joseph set up his horse, the night that he came to town to murder Richard
Hun.
VOL. IV. f)
A.D.
1509
ti>
1518.
194, DEPOSITIONS CONCERNING the murder OF HUN.
Bmn answered, 'Nay!' But shortly after he did. Nevertheless Peter Turner,
rill. Charles's son-in-law, who brought the horse by night into the Bell, which was
Robert Johnson's house, confessed it was the same night, before that Hun was
found dead in the morning. Moreover the Friday before Hun's death, Peter
Turner said to an honest woman, a wax-chandler's wife, dwelling before St.
Mary's, Spitalgate, that before this day seven-nights, Hun should have a mis-
chievous death. And, the same day at afternoon, on which this Hun was
found dead, the said Peter came to the same wife and told her that Hun was
hanged ; saying, ' What told I you?'
Also James, the chancellor's cook, the Friday before Hun's death, said to
five honest men, that Hun should die ere Christmas, or else he would die for
him. And on the Monday that Hun was found dead, the said James came to
the same men and said, ' What told I you ? is he not now hanged ?' And we of
the inquest asked both of Peter Turner, and of James Cook, where they had
knowledge that Hun should so shortly die? and they said, 'In Master Chancel-
lor's place, by every man.'
* The Deposition of John Spalding, Bellringer.
First the said deponent sayeth, That on Saturday the 2d day of December,
a. d. 1514, he took the charge of the prison at four of the clock in the after-
noon, by the commandment of Master Chancellor, and so took the keys ;
whereupon he gave commandment to the deponent, that he should let no man-
ner of person speak with the prisoner, except he had knowledge of them ; and
so at five of the clock the same day, the said deponent went to the prisoner him-
self alone, and saw him, and cherished him, where he gave the said deponent a
piece of fresh salmon for his wife. And after that, the said deponent sayeth,
that he went to Master Commissary's, to supper with his fellow, where he re-
membered that he had left his knife with the said prisoner ; whereupon, by the
counsel of Master Commissary, he went to the prisoner and fetched his knife,
when he found the prisoner saying of his beads, and so the said deponent re-
quired his knife of the said prisoner, and the said prisoner delivered the knife
to the said deponent gladly ; and so he departed for that night.
And after that, on the Sunday next following, the said deponent came to the
prisoner at nine o'clock, and asked him what meat he would have to his dinner ?
and he answered, 'but a morsel ;' and so the said deponent departed and went
to the chancellor into the choir, and he commanded that he should take the
penitentiary up to the prisoner with him, to make him holy water and holy bread,
and made the said deponent to depart the prison-house for a while ; and after
that he brought him his dinner, and locked Charles's boy in with him all
dinner time, unto the hour of one o'clock, and so let the lad out again, and
asked him what he would have to his supper ? and he answered, that he had
meat enough ; and so departed until six of the clock ; and then the said de-
ponent brought him a quart of ale. And at that time one William Sampson
went with the said deponent to see the prisoner where he was, and saw him, and
spake together; and so, from the hour of six aforesaid, unto twelve o'clock on
the morrow, the said deponent came not there, and when he came there, he
met the chancellor, with other doctors, going to see the prisoner where he
hanged.
* The Deposition of Peter Turner, Son-in-law of Charles Joseph.
First, he sayeth, That his father-in-law rode out of the town, upon Sunday
the 4th day of December, a. d. 1514, at six o'clock in the morning, wearing a
coat of orange tawny, on a horse, grizzle colour, trotting.
He saith, the Sunday next before that, one Button's wife gave knowledge to
the said deponent, that his father should be arrested by divers sergeants as soon
as he could be taken ; and thereupon the said deponent gave knowledge to the
said father-in-law at the Mack Friars at the water side, whereupon he avoided ;
and, the same night, Master Chancellor gave the keys to Thomas, bellringer,
and gave him charge of the prisoner. And on the said Sunday the said depo-
nent, with John, bellringer, served the said prisoner with his dinner at twelve
DEPOSITIONS CONCERNING THK MURDER OF HUN. 195
o'clock, and then John, bellringer, said to the deponent, that he would not come Benry
to him until the morrow, for my lord had commanded him that the prisoner VUI
should have but one meal's meat on the day. Notwithstanding that, the said j± j)
John, bellringer, after that he had shut St. Paul's church doors, went to the i/jqjJ
aforesaid prisoner, with another with him, at seven of the clock at night t0
the said Sunday. 1518.
And the said deponent sayeth, That he came on the Monday, at the hour of -
eight o'clock in the morning, to seek John, bellringer, and could not find him,
and tarried until the high mass of St. Paul's was done, and yet he could not
find the said John ; and then one William, John the bellringer's fellow, delivered
the keys to the said deponent, and so the said deponent, with two officers of my
lord's, being somners, went to serve the said prisoner, and when they came, the
prisoner (they said) was hanged ; his face to the wallward. And, upon that,
the said deponent immediately gave knowledge to the chancellor, whereupon
the chancellor went up with the Master of the Rolls, and Master Subdean, with
other doctors unknown, to the number of a dozen, and their servants.
* The Deposition of John Enderby, Barber.
The said John Enderby sayeth, The Friday before the death of Richard Hun,
betwixt eight and nine o'clock in the morning, he met with John the bellringer in
Eastcheap, and asked him how Master Hun fared ? the said bellringer answered,
saying : There is ordained for him so grievous penance, that when men hear of
it, they shall have great marvel thereof.
The witnesses that heard John, bellringer, say these words, were John Rutter,
scrivener, and William Segar, armourer.
Also the said John Enderby saith, The same Monday that Richard Hun was
found dead, he met with the aforesaid John at the Conduit, in Gracious
street,1 about nine of the clock in the morning, asking the said bellringer how
Master Hun fared ? the said bellringer answered, saying : he fared well this day
in the morning betwixt five and six of the clock ; howbeit, I am sorry for him,
for there can nobody come to him until I come, for I have the keys of the doors
here by my girdle ; and showed the keys to the said Enderby.*
The Deposition of Allen Creswell, Waxchandler.
The said Allen saith, That John Granger, servant with my lord of Lon-
don, in my lord of London's kitchen, at such time as the said Allen was
serving of Hun's coffin, told him, that he was present with John the bell-
ringer the same Sunday at night that Richard Hun was found dead on the
morrow, when the keepers set him in the stocks ; insomuch that the said Hun
desired to borrow the keeper's knife : and the keeper asked him what he would
do with his knife ; and he answered, ' I had leifer kill myself than to be thus
treated.' This deposition the said Allen will prove as far forth as any christian
man may; saying, that Granger showed to him these words of his own free
will and mind, without any question or inquiry to him made by the said Allen.
Moreover the said Allen saith, that all that evening Granger was in great fear.
The Deposition of Richard Horsenail, Bailiff of the Sanctuary-Town
called Godsture in Essex.
The said Richard saith, That the Friday before Christmas-day last past, one
Charles Joseph, sumner to my lord of London, became a sanctuary-man, and
the aforesaid Friday he registered his name ; the said Charles saying it was for
the safeguard of his body, for there be certain men in London so extreme
against him for the death of Richard Hun, that he dare not abide in London.
Howbeit the said Charles saith, he knowledgcth himself guiltless of Hun's
death; for he delivered the keys to the chancellor in Hun's life. Also the said
bailiff saith, that Charles paid the duty of the said registering, both to him and
sir John Studley, vicar.
(1) So it stands in the original. —Ed.
]J)6 THE STORY OF THE MURDER OF RICHARD HUN.
r//Z Copy of the Letter of Richard Fitzjames, then Bishop of London,
~ r~^~~ sent to Cardinal Wolsey.
1 509 ] beseech your good lordship to stand so good lord unto my poor chancellor now
to in ward, and indicted by an untrue quest, for the death of Richard Hun, upon
15 1 8. tin- only accusation of Charles Joseph made by pain and durance ; that by your
— intercession it may please the king's grace to have the matter duly and suffi-
ciently examined by indifferent persons of Ins discreet council, in the presence
of the parties, ere there be any more done in the cause : and that upon the
innocency of my said chancellor declared, it may further please the king's
grace to award a placard unto his attorney, to confess the said indictment to be
untrue, when the time shall require it : for assured am I, if my chancellor be
tried by any twelve men in London, they be so maliciously set, ' in favorem
hsereticac pravitatis,' that they will cast and condemn any clerk, though he were
as innocent as Abel. ' Quare si potes beate Pater, adjuva infirmitates nostras,
et tibi in perpetuum devinctierimus !' Over this, in most humble wise I beseech
you, that I may have the king's gracious favour, whom I never offended wil-
lingly ; and that by your good means I might speak with his grace and you :
and 1 with all mine shall pray for your prosperous estate long to continue,
Your most humble orator, Richard London.
Lastly, now it remaineth to infer the sentence of the questmen,
■which followeth in like sort to be seen and expended, after I have
first declared the words of the bishop -spoken in the parliament-house.
The Words that the Bishop of London spake before the Lords in
the Parliament-house.
Memorandum, That the bishop of London said in the parliament-house, that
there was a bill brought to the parliament, to make the jury that was charged
upon the death of Hun, true men ; and said and took upon his conscience, that
they were false perjured caitifs. And said furthermore to all the lords there being,
' For the love of God look upon this matter ; for if you do not, I dare not keep
mine house for heretics :' and said, that the said Richard Hun hanged himself,
and that it was his own deed, and no man's else. And furthermore said, that
there came a man to his house, whose wife was appeached of heresy, to speak
with him ; and he said that he had no mind to speak with the same man :
which man spake and reported to the servants of the same bishop, that if his
wife would not hold still her opinions, he would cut her throat with his own
hands ; with other words.
The Sentence of the Inquest, subscribed by the Coroner.
The inquisition intended and taken at the city of London, in the parish of
St. Gregory, in the ward of Baynard Castle in London, the sixth day of Decem-
ber, in the sixth year of the reign of king Henry VIII., before Thomas Barnwell,
coroner of our sovereign lord the king, within the city of London aforesaid.
Also before James Yarford and John Mundey, sheriffs of the said city, upon
the sight of the body of Richard Hun, late of London, tailor, who was found
hanged in the Lollards' tower; and by the oath and proof of lawful men of the
same ward, and of other three wards next adjoining, as it ought to be, after the
custom of the city aforesaid, to inquire how, and in what manner-wist the said
Richard Hun came unto his death: and upon the oath of John Bernard,
Thomas Stert, William Warren, Henry Abraham, John Aborow, John Turner,
Robert Allen, William Marler, John Burton, James Page, Thomas Pickhill,
William Burton, Robert Bridgwater, Thomas Busted, Gilbert Howell, Richard
Gibson, Christopher Crafton, John God, Richard Holt, John Pasmere, Edmund
Hudson, John Arunsell, Richard Cooper, John Tyme : who said upon their
oaths, that whereas the said Richard Hun, by the commandment of Richard
bishopoi London, was imprisoned and brought to hold in a prison of the said
bishops, called Lollards' tower, lying in the cathedral church of St. Paul in
London, m the parish of St. Gregory, in the ward of Baynard Castle aforesaid j
THE STORY OF THE MURDER OF RICHARD HUN. 197
William Horsey, of London, clerk, otherwise called William Heresie, chancellor Henry
to Richard bishop of London ; and one Charles Joseph, late of London, sumner, *M
and John Spalding of London, otherwise called John Bellringer, feloniously as . ^
felons to our lord the king, with force and arms gainst the peace of our sove- , I, '
reign lord the king, and dignity of his crown, the 4th day of December, the
sixth year of the reign of our sovereign lord aforesaid, of their great malice, at . °
the parish of St. Gregory aforesaid, upon the said Richard Hun made
fray, and feloniously strangled and smothered the same Richard Hun, and also Hun
the neck they did break of the said Richard Hun, and there feloniously slew &%£
him and murdered him. And also the body of the said Richard Hun, after- inquest,
ward, the same fourth day, year, place, parish, and w aid aforesaid, with the Pot t0
proper girdle of the same Richard Htm, of silk, black of colour, of the value of{£ngeel
twelve pence, after his death, upon a hook driven into a piece of timber in the himself.
wall of the prison aforesaid, made fast, and so hanged him, against the peace
of our sovereign lord the king, and the dignity of his crown. And so the said
jury have sworn upon the holy evangelists, that the said William Horsey, clerk,
Charles Joseph, and John Spalding, "of their set malice, then and there feloni-
ously killed and murdered the said Richard Hun in manner and form above-
said, against the peace of our sovereign lord the king, his crown and dignity.
Subscribed in this manner :
Thomas Barnwell, Coroner of the city of London.
After that the twenty-four had given up their verdict, sealed and The par-
signed with the coroner's seal, the cause was then brought into the jud'^-'tn
parliament-house, where the truth was laid so plain before all men's ^dari
faces, and the fact so notorious, that immediately certain of the bloody Hon.
murderers were committed to prison, and should no doubt have suf-
fered what they deserved, had not the cardinal, by his authority, prac- practice
tised for his catholic children, at the suit of the bishop of London. naiwlY
Whereupon the chancellor, by the king's pardon, and secret shifting, se>' for
rather than by God's pardon and his deserving, escaped, and went, clergy.
as is said, to Exeter, &c. Nevertheless, though justice took no place
where favour did save, yet because the innocent cause of Hun should
take no Avrong, the parliament became suitors unto the king's majesty,
that whereas the goods of the said Hun were confiscate into the king's
hands, it would please his grace to make restitution of all the said
goods unto the children of the said Hun. Upon which motion, the
king, of his gracious disposition, did not only give all the aforesaid
goods unto the aforesaid children under his broad seal yet to be seen ;
but also did send out his warrants (which hereafter shall follow) to
those that were the cruel murderers, commanding them, upon his
high displeasure, to re-deliver all the said goods, and make restitution
for the death of the said Richard Hun : all which goods came to
the sum of fifteen hundred pounds sterling, besides his plate and
other jewels.
The Tenor of the King's Letter in behalf of Richard Hun.
Trusty and well-beloved ! we greet you well. Whereas by the complaint to The
us made, as well as also in our high court of parliament, on the behalf and part ¥"$* I1','
of Roger Whapplot of our city of London, draper, and Margaret his wife, late restitu- '
the daughter of Richard Hun : and whereas you were indicted by our laws, of Hon ?f
and for the death of the said Richard Hun, and the said murder cruelly com- ^"[J^
mitted by you, like as by our records more at large plainly it doth appear, about
the fifth day of December, in the sixth year of our reign ; the same we abhor ;
nevertheless we of our special grace, certain science, and mere motion, pardoned
you upon certain considerations us moving : for the intent that the goods of the
said Richard Hun, and the administration of them, were committed to the said
A DEFENCE OF HUN AGAINST MORE AND COPE.
Ro^er Whapplot. We then supposed and intended your amendment, and
restitution to be made by you to the infants, the children of the said Richard
Hun • as well for his death, as for his goods, embezzled, wasted, and consumed,
by your tyranny and cruel act so committed, the same being of no little value ;
and as hitherto ye have made no recompense, according to our laws, as might
stand with equity, justice, right, and good conscience, and for this cause due
satisfaction ought to be made by our laws : wherefore we will and exhort, and
otherwise charge and command you, by the tenor of these our special letters,
that ye satisfy and recompense the said Roger Whapplot, and the said Margaret
his wife, according to our laws in this cause, as it may stand with right and good
conscience, else otherwise at your further peril ; so that they shall have no cause
to return unto us, for their further remedy eftsoons in this behalf, as ye in the
same tender to avoid our high displeasure : otherwise that ye upon the sight
hereof, set all excuses apart, and repair unto our presence, at which your hither
coming you shall be further advertised of our mind.
From our manor, &c.
A DEFENCE OF RICHARD HUN AGAINST SIR THOMAS MORE
AND ALANUS COPUS.
I doubt not but by these premises, thou hast, christian reader !
sufficiently to understand the whole discourse and story of Richard
Hun, from top to toe. First, how he came in trouble for denying the
bearing-sheet of his young infant departed ; then how he was forced,
for succour of himself, to sue a praemunire ; and thereupon what con-
spiracy of the clergy was wrought against him, what snares were laid,
what fetches were practised, and articles devised, to snarl him in the
trap of heresy, and so to imprison him. Furthermore, being in prison,
how he was secretly murdered ; after his murder, hanged ; after his
hanging, condemned ; after his condemnation, burned ; and after his
burning, lastly, how his death was required by the coroner, and cleared
by acquittal of the inquest. Moreover, how the case was brought
into parliament, and by parliament the king's precept obtained for
restitution of his goods. The debating of which tragical and tumul-
tuous story, with all the branches and particular evidences of the
same, taken out as well of the public acts, as of the bishop's registers
and special records remaining in the custody of Dunstan Whapplot,
the son of the daughter of the said Richard Hun, there to be seen,
I thought here to unwrap and discover so much the more, for three
special purposes : '
Three First, as is requisite, for testimony and witness of truth falsely
omsider- slandered, °f innocency wrongfully condemned, and of the party
ed. cruelly oppressed.
The second cause moveth me for sir Thomas More's Dialogues,
wherein he dallieth out the matter, thinking to jest poor simple truth
out of countenance.
The third cause which constraineth me, be the Dialogues of Alan
Cope ; which two, the one in English, the other in Latin, railing and
barking against Richard Hun, do double-Avise charge him, both to be
a heretic, and also a desperate homicide of himself: which as it is
false in the one, so it is to be found as untrue in the other, if simple
truth, which hath few friends, and many times cometh in crafty
handling, might freely come to indifferent hearing. Wherefore, as I
have hitherto described the order and manner of his handling, with
the circumstances thereof, in plain and naked narration of story,
(I) Ex publicis actis. Kit archivis et Regist. Lond.
A DEFENCE OF IIUN AGAINST MORE AND COPE. 199
simply laid out before all men's faces ; so something here to intermit Btmn
in the defence as well of his oppressed cause, as also in discharge of
myself, I will now compendiously answer to both these aforesaid A. D.
adversaries, stopping, as it were, with one bush two gaps ; and the 15^9
mouths also, if I can, of them both together. And, first, against
sir Thomas More, albeit in degree worshipful, in place superior, in
to
1518.
wit and learning singular, if his judgment in Christ's matters had ^ail"
been correspondent to the same, being otherwise a man with many ^|'sr^.tv
worthy ornaments beautified : yet, being but a man, and one man, I tag many
lay and object against the person of him, the persons and censures of fu"s, had
twenty four questmen, the deposition of so many jurats, the judg- °"ceegreat
ment of the coroner, the approbation of the parliament ; and, lastly, His Per-
the king's bill assigned for restitution of his goods, with his own broad tervaiied.
seal confirmed, &c. And thus much to the person and credit of
sir Thomas More.
Now as touching his reasons : whereas he, coming in with a flim-flam His
of a horse-mill, or a mill-horse (in his own terms I speak), thinketh refuted3
it probation good enough, because he could not see him taken by the
sleeve who murdered Hun : against these reasons unreasonable of his,
I allege all the evidences and demonstrations of the history above
prefixed, to be considered, and of all indifferent men to be poised.
First, how he was found hanging, with his countenance fair, with his The ai-
beard and head fair kemped, his bonnet right set on his head, with his stances of
eyes and mouth fair closed, without any driveling or spurging. His g™^
body being taken down, was found loose (which by hanging could not condder-i
be), his neck broken, and the skin thereof beneath the throat, where the e '
girdle went, fretted and faced away ; his girdle notwithstanding being
of silk, and so double cast about the staple, that the space of the girdle
between the staple and his neck, with the residue also that went about
his neck, was not sufficient for his head to come out at. His hands,
moreover, wrung in the -wrists ; his face, lips, chin, doublet, and shirt-
collar, unstained with any blood : when, notwithstanding, in a manner
somewhat beyond the place where he did hang, a great quantity of
blood was found. Also, whereas the staple whereon he hanged was so
that he could not climb thereto without some mean, there was a stool
set up upon the bolster of a bed, so tickle, that with the least touch in
the world it was ready to fall : and how was it possible that Hun might
hang himself upon that staple, the stool so standing ? besides the
confession, moreover, of Charles Joseph's own mouth to Julian Littell,
of Robert Johnson, John Spalding the bellringer, Peter Turner, and
others. All which testimonies and declarations being so clear ami
undeniable, may suffice, I trust, any indifferent man to see where the
truth of this case doth stand : unless Master More, being a gentleman
of Utopia, peradventure after some strange guise of that country, Utopia
useth to carry his eyes not in his head, but in his affection; not Mon-
Seeing but where he likcth, nor believing but what he listeth.
Finally, where sir Thomas More, speaking of himself, so con-
cludeth, that he, hearing the matter what well might be said, yet
could not find contrary, hut Hun to he guilty of his own death : so
in as many words to answer him again, 1, perusing and searching in
the story of Richard Hun what may well be searched, cannot but
marvel with myself, either with what darkness the eyes of Master More
1509
to
1518.
20() A DEFENCE OF HUN AGAINST MORE AND COPE.
Hemy be dared,1 not to see what is so plain ; or else with what conscience
VUI- ]ie could dissemble that which shame cannot deny, And thus by the
A. D. way to the Dialogues of sir Thomas More.
Thirdly, touching the Dialogues of Alan Cope, who had rather the
bishop's chancellor and officers to be accounted among thieves and
murderers, than Hun to be numbered among the martyrs, I have
tn'r^ms herein not much to say, because himself saith but little : and if he
','nt R»<*- had said less, unless his ground were better, it had made as little
matter. But forasmuch as he, saying not much, sendeth us to seek
more in More ; so with like brevity again I may send him to William
Tindall, to shape him an answer. Yet notwithstanding lest Cope, in
saying something, should think Hun's innocent cause to lack some
friends, who will not, or dare not, adventure in defence of truth ;
somewhat I will answer in this behalf,
nun And first, touching this murder of Hun not to be his own wilful
|i';,'tiri'!ylt'd act, but the deed of others : besides the demonstrations above pre-
imTb lf' mised to sir Thomas More, now to Master Cope ; if I had no other
others, evidences but only these two, I would require no more ; that is, his
cap found so straight standing upon his head, and the stool so totter-
Not pos- ing under his feet. For how is it, I will not say likely ; but how is
iiun.'so1 it possible, for a man to hang himself in a silken girdle double cast
i':',waK' aDout d staple, in such shortness, that neither the space of the knot
hang could well compass his head about, and yet have his cap so straight
set upon his head as his was ?
Again, how is it possible, or can it be imagined, for him to hang
himself, climbing up by a stool which had no stay for him to stand
upon, but stood so tickle, that if he had touched the same never so
little, it must needs have fallen?
But Cope, being something more provident in this matter, seemeth
to exceed not altogether so far as doth Master More. For he, under-
standing the case to be ambiguous and doubtful, so leaveth it in sus-
pense ; neither determining that Hun did hang himself, and yet not
Cope admitting that he died a martyr, no more than those who are quelled
him'to' °y thieves and murderers in high-way sides. Well, be it so as Cope
''''■ I doth argue, that those who die by the hands of felons and murderers
martyr. ...°. , , J ., ,. ....
in thievish ways, be no martyrs ; yet, notwithstanding this, his own
similitude, comparing the bishop's chancellor and officers to thieves
and murderers, doth grant at least that Hun died a true man, although
The no martyr. Now if the cause be it, and not the pain, that maketh a
not the martyr, in pondering the cause why Hun was slain, we shall find it
!;,",;!;. Ml ,, not altogether like to the cause of those who perish by thieves and
martyr, robbers. For such commonly, because of their goods, and for some
worldly gain to be sought by their death, are made away, and being
true men, may peradventure have the reward, although not the name
of martyrs : whereas this man's death being wrought neither for money,
nor any such temporal lucre to redound to his oppressors ; as it hath
tik- another cause, so may it have another name, and deserve to be called
Abrff0 by the name of martyrdom. Like as Abel, being slain by wicked
;;; ■ * Cam, albeit he had no opinion of religion articulated against him, but
! ■!,',',',' '" °' sl)iu' ,,n'.v an(l °f ,nancc was made away, yet notwithstanding is
pared, justly numbered among the martyrs : so what let to the contrary, but
(\) ' Dared,' harmed or-pained.— Ed.
A DEFENCE OF HUN AGAINST MORE AND COPE. 201
that Hun also with him may be reckoned in the same society, seeing nnrj,
tK. cause wherefore they both did suffer, proceeded) together out of.
one fountain ? And what, moreover, if a man should call Naboth A. I),
(who for holding his right inheritance was slain) a martyr, what great l;)0y
injury should he do either to the name, or cause, of the person, 15^8
worthy to be carped at ? Against Thomas Becket, you know Master '-
Cope, no special article of faith was laid, wherefore he died:1 and
why then do you bestow upon him so devoutly the title of a martyr,
for withholding that from the king, which by the law of God, and of
the realm, did belong unto him ; and cannot suffer Hun to be entitled
a martyr, dying in his own right, by the hands of spiritual thieves
and homicides, as you yourself do term them ? But what do I strain
my travail any further to prove Hun a martyr, when Cope's own
confession doth import no less, though I said nothing ? For, if I
should take no more but his own very words, and say, that he was
known to be a heretic, as Cope doth affirm, what could I say more,
seeing he died for their heresy, to prove him to die a martyr ? for to
die a heretic with the papists, what is it else (to say truth) but to die
with God a martyr ? 2
But howsoever it pleaseth either sir Thomas More to jest, or
Alan Cope to scold out the matter, and to style Richard Hun for
a known and desperate heretic : yet to all true godly disposed men,
Hun may well be known to be a godly and virtuous person, no
heretic, but faithful and sound, save that only he seemed rather half
a papist ; at least no full protestant, for that he resorted daily to Hun ..o
mass, and also had his beads in prison with him, after the catholic testant.
manner ; albeit he was somewhat inclining (as may appear) toward the
gospel. And if the name of a martyr be thought too good for him,
yet I trust Master Cope will stand so good master to him, to let him
at least be a martyr's fellow. But what now if I go further with
Master Cope, and name Richard Hun, not only for a martyr, but
also commend him for a double martyr ? Certes, as I suppose, in so
saying, I should affirm nothing less than truth, nor any thing more than
may truly be said, and justly proved. But to give and grant this
confession unto the adversary, which notwithstanding might be easily
proved, let us see now the proof's of Master Cope, how he argueth
that Richard Hun is no martyr : " because," saith he, " true men,
being killed in high-ways by thieves and murderers, are not therefore
to be counted martyrs,11 &c. And was there nothing else in the cause
of Hun, but as in true men killed by thieves and murderers? They
that are killed by thieves and murderers, are killed for some prey, or
money about them : and what prey or profit was in the death of Hun,
let us see, to redound to those who oppressed him ? If it were the
mortuary, or the bearing-cloth, that was a small thing, and not worthy
his death. If it were the ; praemunire,1 the danger thereof pertained
to the priest, and not to them. If they feared lest the example
thereof once begun, should afterward redound to the prejudice of the
whole church, then was the cause of his death not private but public,
tending to the whole church and clergy of Rome : and so is his death
not altogether like to the death of those, who, for private respects,
arc killed by thieves and murderers.
(1) Cope, Dial. 0, p 847. '2) Cope, ibid.
I lull's
secret
202 A DEFENCE OF HUN AGAINST MORE AND COPE.
ifmnj " But he was a heretic," saith Cope. By the same reason that
Cope taketh him for a heretic, I take him the more to be accepted
for a martyr : for by that way which they call heresy, the living God
is served, and by no way better. And if he were a heretic, why
then did they not proceed against him as a heretic while he was alive ?
When they had him at Fulham before them, if they had been sure
of to entrap him in that snare, why did they not take their advantage,
when they might with least jeopardy ? why did they not proceed and
murder condemn him for a heretic ? why made they such haste to prevent
'lX""" his death before? why did they not tarry the sentence of the law,
having the law in their own hands ? But belike they perceived that
he could not be proved a heretic while he lived, and therefore thought
it best to make him away privily, and to stop the praemunire, and
afterwards to stop the pursuit of his death by making him a heretic.
crafty And therefore were articles devised by the chancellor (as is proved
practice. before ^y j.ne witness of Charles Joseph and another) against him,
and he condemned for a heretic, and all his favourers also, whosoever
durst stir to take his part ; and so thereupon was recommitted to the
Hun hid secular power, and burned : wherein they did him double wrong ;
wrong, first, in that they burned him for a heretic, having before submitted
himself to their favourable correction, as it appeareth yet in the
bishop's registers by his own hand, as it is there pretended ; which
was against their own laws. Again, if he had not submitted himself
at that time, yet did they him wrong to burn him before they knew
him and heard him speak (as Tindall saith) whether he would recant
or no. And yet, admit that he was condemned and burned for a
heretic, yet to be killed and burned of them for a heretic, that taketh
not from him the name of a martyr, but rather giveth him to be a
double martyr.
cope's Hut Cope yet proceeding in his hot choler against Richard Hun,
why'iTun a^er ne l'a(l made him first no martyr, and then a heretic, thirdly he
should now maketh him also a murderer of himself, and saith, that no other
him»eif. man was any part of his death but only his own hands, and that,
cither for indignation and anger, or for desperation, or for some cause
he knoweth not what. And in his Epilogue, to make it probable, he
allegeth the example of one, but nameless, who, in queen Mary's
time, in like sort went about to hang himself, had he not been taken
in the manner and rescued.
Furthermore, as touching the chancellor he argueth, that there was
no cause why he should attempt any such violence against him, both
for his age, for his dignity, for his learning, and for the greatness of
his own peril which might ensue thereof; who, if he had maligned
the man, and had been so disposed to work his destruction, had
means otherwise, without danger, to bring that about, having him
within his danger convicted and fast tied for heresy. Whereunto I
num.- answer, that to all this matter, sufficient hath been answered by the
mre? stoi7 lt*^' °f his death, above specified; namely, by the manner of
ProoA his death, by circumstances of his handling and hanging, by his neck
aidnot broke, by his body loose, by his skin fretted, by his wrists wrung, by
hunt'cif ^'S Kn'dle m such shortness double cast about the staple, by his cap
right upon his head, by his hair kemped, by his eyes closed, by the
cake of blood found on the floor, by his shirt-collar, doublet, jacket,
A DEFENCE OF HUN AGAINST MORE AND COPE. 2(
and other outward parts of his garments without drop of blood, un- Bmn
spotted ; by the stool so standing upon the bolster, by the chancellor's -
murrey gown, found the day after upon the stocks, the wax candle A. D.
fair put out : Furthermore, by the verdict of the inquest, by the l509
attestation of the witnesses sworn, by the coroner's judgment, by the 1518
assent of the parliament, by the king's letters assigned, and broad -
seal for restitution of his goods ; and finally, by the confession of the
parties themselves who murdered him, &c. And yet thinkcth Cope
to make men such fools, having yet their five wits, to ween yet that
Hun did hang himself, after so many demonstrations and evidences
to the contrary, as in every part of this story may appear ? And
though it were, as it was unlikely, and hard for a man to believe, that
Dr. Horsey, a man of such age, dignity, and learning, would so much
forget himself to attempt such a villany ; yet so great is the devil
sometimes with man, where God permitteth, that he worketh greater
things than this, and more incredible. For who would have thought
it likely that Cain would ever have killedAbel, his own natural brother ?
which was more than for a bishop's chancellor to kill a citizen : yet Manifest
so he did. And where Cope prctendeth the causes of anger and Scopei
desperation whereby Hun did hang himself, how is it like, or who
ever did hear, a man being in such extremity of desperation, to stand
first trimming himself, and kemping his head, before he go to hang
himself ? No more credit is also to be given to that which followeth Another
in the same Cope, where he saith, that Richard Hun being in prison, Hated.*
was convicted of heresy : by which word convicted, if he mean that
Hun was proved a heretic, that is false ; for that he, being at Fulham
examined upon certain articles, both denied the articles to be true as
they were objected ; and also if they were true, yet he submitted
himself to their favourable correction ; and therefore, not standing
obstinately in the same, could not be proved a heretic. And if by
this term convicted, he mean that he was by sentence cast ; so was
Hun never cast by any sentence for a heretic, so long as he lived,
but after his death, when he could nothing answer for himself. And cope
because this untruth should not go without his fellow, sec how he J]
huddleth up one false narration on the neck of another ; affirming ^lhn.
moreover, that Hun was cast into prison before he entered Ids suit of untruth,
prsemunire against the priest : which is utterly false and untrue, both
disagreeing to other stories, and also refuted by the words of sir
Thomas More, his own author ; who reporteth, that Hun (in suing
his praemunire against the priest), being set upon a glory of victory,
made his boasting among his friends, that trusted to have the matter
long spoken of, and to be called Hun's case. Whereby it appeareth
that Hun was not then in prison clapt up for heresy, but was abroad
seeking counsel among the lawyers, and boasting among his friends,
as write th More.1
After this heap of untruths above passed, add yet further another Another
copy of Cope's false dealing; who, seeking all corners and every- taCop*
where how to pick matter against my former history,- charged, me with noted
arrogancy, as though I took so highly upon me to undo and derogate
the king's acts and judgments in the acquittal of Dr. Horsey.
If it so pleased the king to acquit Dr. Horsey by his gracious pardon,
(1) Dial. b. lii. (2) The lirst edition, 1503.— Eu.
uddles
upi
A DEFENCE OF HUN AGAINST MORE AND COPE.
enry I am not against it, neither do I deny but the king so did : neither
'IIL do I say, nor ever did, but the king, of his supereminent prerogative,
A. D. may so do : and wherein then do I unrip or loose the king's acts here
1509 jone and concluded ? But if the question be this, Whether Dr.
,*?„ Horsey with his conjurats, did kill Richard Hun or no ? then do I
say, that the pardon of the king doth not take away the verity of the
toOoprt crime committed, but removeth away the penalty of the law deserved :
' '•" 'ill:i" and so if the lives of them were saved by way of pardon (as Mr. More
himself seemeth not to deny), then was it not through their innocency
claiming justice, that they escaped, but through petition standing in
need of mercy. For what needeth pardon, where justice absolved) ?
yea, who sueth pardon, but in so doing must yield himself guilty ?
for pardon never cometh lightly, either with God or man, except the
Ti,e es- crime be first confessed. Wherefore if they escaped by justice, as
HorseK °f C°Pe pretendeth, how then doth Master More say, they were saved
came ra- by pardon ? And if they escaped by pardon, how then doth Cope
favour say they were not guilty ? And be it admitted, that the sentence of
demerits, the king's attorney in the king's name did absolve them as unguilty,
according as the king was then informed by the cardinal and suit of
friends ; yet afterwards the king, being better informed by the par-
liament, and the truth better known, detested and abhorred their fact,
and yet continued his pardon unto them, as by the king's own acts and
his broad seal appeareth, yet remaining in records to be seen.
And as touching my former histories set forth in Latin and in
English, which spake first of the foreman of the quest, then of the
king's attorney, to be laboured with some gifts or money :] as Cope
hath yet proved no untruth in my saying, so less can he find any re-
pugnance or disagreeing in the same. For he that speaketh of bribing,
first of one person, and then afterwards of another, where both might
be bribed together, is not contrary, I think, to himself, but rather doth
comprehend that in the one book, which he before leaveth out in the
other ; and yet no great repugnance either in the one or in the other,
seeing that which is said may be verified in both, as it is no other
like but in this matter it was. For how is it otherwise likely or pos-
sible, but that there must needs be found some privy packing in this
matter, seeing after such evidence found and brought in by the coro-
ner's inquest and jury of twenty-four chosen persons, after so many
marks and tokens of the murder so clear and demonstrable, and laid
forth so plain to the eyes of all the world, that no man could deny, or
not see the same ; yet through the handling of tfie aforesaid attorney,
and of the foreman of the quest, the murderers were borne out and
confessed to be no murderers. If such bolstering out of matters and
partiality were then such a rare case in the realm of England, in the
time of cardinal Wolsey (who then under the king and in the king's
name did what he list), then let it seem untrue what I have written in
my former stories. And yet the words of my story, which Cope
carpeth at so much, be not mine, but the words of Edward Hall, nis
(1) In the first Edition of the Acts and Monuments, London, 1563, page 39], Foxe says, "So
upon good evidence Dr. Horsey the chancellor, and Belringer, with Charles Joseph the somner,
vv ' ' '' '"dieted for the murder; but afterwards, by the means of the spiritualty and nwncij; Doctor
Horsey eavised the king's attorney to confess him, on his arraignment, not to be guilty, and so he
atoned and went to Exeter.' See the Latin Edition also; page 121. ISasle ; 1559. ' Ille, largiti-
onibus corrupto pnecoue,' &c. piofugit Exoniam.— Ed.
<>w
to
1518.
PERSECUTION IX THE DIOCESE OF LINCOLN'. 205
n author.1 Wherefore, if his disposition be so set, tli.it he must &**
needs be a censor of other men's writings, let him expostulate with VIII_
Hall, and not with me. A.D.
But I trouble the reader too much in this matter of Richard Hun, *
being of itself so clear, that no indifferent judge can doubt thereof.
As for -wranglers and quarrelers, they will never be satisfied. Where-
fore I return again to the purpose of our story intermitted.
«E{i$abetlj ^tamforb, ant> otfjer£.
In the table above, containing the names of those who, about this
time of Richard Hun, were forced to deny and abjure their professed
opinions, mention was made of Elizabeth Stamford, John Houshold,
and others, abjuring about a. d. 1517 ; -whose vexation and weakness,
although it be pitiful to behold, yet to consider the confession of their
doctrine in those ancient days, it is not unprofitable ; wherein we have
to see the same form of knowledge and doctrine then taught and
planted in the hearts of our fore-elders, which is now publicly re-
ceived, as well touching the Lord's sacrament of his body, as also other
specialties of sincerity. And although they lacked then public autho- th
rity to maintain the open preaching and teaching of the gospel, which J|r
the Lord's merciful grace hath given us now : yet in secret knowledge former
and understanding they seemed then little or nothing inferior to these be con
our times of public reformation, as may appear by this confession of dered-
ti-acliinj;
the
Elizabeth Stamford hereunder written ; which only may suffice for
example, to understand what ripe knowledge of God's Word was then
abroad ; although not in churches publicly preached, for danger of the
bishops, yet in secret wise taught and received of divers, in number of
whom was this Elizabeth Stamford ; who, being brought and examined
before Fitzjames bishop of London, a. d. 1517, confessed, that she Thomas
was taught by one Thomas Beele (sometime dwelling at Henley) Beeie.
these words eleven years before :
' Christ feedeth, and fast nourisheth his church with his own precious body,
that is, the bread of life coming down from heaven : this is the worthy Word
that is worthily received, and joined unto man, to be in one body with him.
Sooth it is, that they be both one, they may not be parted : this is the wisely
deeming of the holy Sacrament, Christ's own body : this is not received by
chewing of teeth, but by hearing with ears, and understanding with your soul,
and wisely working thereafter. Therefore, saith St. Paul, I fear me amongst
us, brethren, that many of us be feeble and sick ; therefore I counsel us, brethren,
to rise and watch, that the great day of doom come not suddenly upon us, as
the thief doth upon the merchant.'
Also the said Beele taught and showed her, that the sacrament of
the altar was not the very body of Christ, but very bread : and that
the sacrament was the very body of Christ put upon the cross, after
a divine and mystical manner. And moreover, that the said Thomas
Beele did many times and oft teach her this aforesaid lesson, that she
should confess her sins to God, and that the pope's pardons and indul-
gences were naught worth, and profited not, and that worshipping of
images and pilgrimages is not to be done.
To this Elizabeth Stamford, may also be annexed the doctrine and
(1) Ex Ed. Hal), in vit. Henry VIII. anno C.
206 pEBSECITTION IN THE DIOCESE OF LINCOLN.
iienry confession of Joan Sampson, wife of John Sampson, carpenter, of
' Aldermanbury in London : against whom, being cited and examined
A.I), before the bishop of London, certain witnesses were producted ; who,
1509 Upon their oath, being sworn, did detect and denounce the said Joan
, J?8 Sampson in these articles and opinions following :
Articles I. That she being in her labour, what time Joan Sampson her predecessor,
oi Joan ljien being alive, was with her, and after the manner then of women, called
Sampson. muc^ Upon the help of the Virgin Mary, she, spitting thereat, was in such sort
aggrieved, that the other party was compelled to forsake the house.
II. Also, that she spake against pilgrimage, and the worshipping of the blessed
Virgin, and of all saints, affirming that there is none holy but one.
III. Item, Another time, in the hearing of one Margaret Anworth, when she
and other women were invocating the blessed Virgin to help in woman's labour,
she stood against them, and contumeliously spake against the invocators.
IV. Item, That she, speaking against the pilgrimage of our lady of Wilsdon
(as she was then called) and of St. Saviour at Bermondsey, called the said St.
Saviour, St. Sawyer.
V. Item, For having two certain books in English, one bigger, and another
lesser, which she committed to one John Anstead a cook ; which books in the
register be not named.
Against VI. Item, That the said Joan Sampson, at a supper, in the hearing of certain
the sacra- meri) ancj 0f a certain widow named Joan White, spake openly in contempt of
tile altar, the sacrament of the altar ; saying, that the priests were idolaters who did lift
up the bread over their heads, making the people to worship it, and making
the people to believe that it was the Lord's body ; and that it was better to eat
the altar-cloth, if it might be eaten and digested as easily as the other.
Here follow, moreover, the names of divers others who, in the regis-
ters, be specified to abjure :
William Jacum, carpenter. John Hatchot. Geo. Laund, prior of St.
John Stradling. Jacob Sturdey. Sithe.
John Newman, shereman. Thomas Purual, tailor. Henry Coll.
Robert Boshel. John Bitam. William Man.
Thomas Edward, dyer. Robert Hutton, pinner. William Sweting.
Richard Dewar. Robert Pope. Jacob Brewster.
Richard Apulby. John Geeste of Stafford. Sabine Manne.
John Osburne. John Brian of the parish John Spencer.
Robert Roger. of St. Stephen. Patrike Dowdal, alias
John Eton. John Bol. Capper.
John Chapman. Richard Wescot. Robert Aleyn.
William Chakon. William Crosse. John Finch, cook.
Richard Mildnal. John Southwick.
3Iofjn &out[jtoicfc.
Against this John Southwick last named, it was laid and objected,
that when one Rivelay, coming from the church of the Grey Friars
in London, had said to his wife (asking where he had been), that he
had heard mass, and had seen his Lord God in fonn of bread and
wine over the priest's head, the aforesaid John Southwick there
present answered again and said ; " Nay, William ! thou sawest
not thy Lord God, thou sawest but bread, wine, and the chalice.""
And when the said William answered again in the same words as
before, saying, " I trust verily that I saw my Lord God in form of
bread and wine, and this I doubt not;" the other replying again,
answered and said as before, " Nay, I tell thee thou sawest but only
PERSECUTION IX THE DIOCESE OF LINCOLN. 207
a figure or sacrament of him, which is in substance bread and wine," /wv
&c. This was a.d. 1520, in which he was compelled to abjure. VU1
All these abovenamed, in one key of doctrine and religion, did A. D.
hold and concord together : against whom wore objected five or six 150y
special matters; to wit, for speaking against worshipping of saints, , °
against pilgrimage, against invocation of the blessed Virgin, against '-
the sacrament of the Lord's body, and for having Scripture books in Sdoc"'
English ; which books I find to be especially named, as these ; the trin
book of the four evangelists, a book of the epistles of Paul and Peter,
the epistle of St. James, a book of the Apocalypse, and of Anti-
christ, of the Ten Commandments, and Wickliff's Wicket, with
other such.
3fol)n 4btifman, Jlartpc.
It would ask a long tractation, and tedious, to recite in order the a.d.isis,
great multitude and number of good men and women, besides these
above-rehearsed, who, in those days, recanted and abjured about the
beginning of king Henry's reign and before : among whom, yet not-
withstanding, some there were whom the Lord reduced again, and
made strong in the profession of his truth, and constant unto death ;
of which number one was John Stilman by name, who, about Sept.
24, a.d. 1518, was apprehended and brought before Richard Fitz-
james then bishop of London, at his manor of Fulham, and by him
was there examined and charged, that notwithstanding his former
recantation, oath, and abjuration, made about eleven years then past,
before Edmund then bishop of Salisbury, as well for speaking against
the worshipping, praying, and offering unto images ; as also for
denying the carnal and corporal presence in the sacrament of Christ's
memorial : yet since that time he had fallen into the same opinions
again, and so into the danger of Telapse : and further he had highly
commended and praised John Wickliff, affirming that he was a saint
in heaven, and that his book called The Wicket was good and holy.1 ^j^ef*
Soon after his examination he was sent from thence unto the Lollards1
tower at London, and on October 22, then next ensuing, was brought
openly into the consistory of Paul's, and was there judicially examined
by Thomas Hed the bishop's vicar-general, upon the contents of
these articles following :
Articles laid against John Stilman.
I. First I object unto you, that you have confessed before my lord of Lon- Years of
don, and me Dr. Hed, his vicar-general, that about twenty years past, one antiquity
Stephen Moone of the diocese of Winchester (with whom you abode six or '"J*.
is \ i-i i ii- ii —\ noted.
seven years alter), did teach you to believe that the going on pilgrimage and a godly
worshipping of images, as the lady of Walsingham and others, were not to be martyr,
used. And also that afterwards one Richard Smart, who was burned at Salis- s„'Kl'rt
bury about fourteen or fifteen years past, did read unto you Wickliff 's Wicket, burned at
and likewise instructed you to believe that the sacrament of the altar was not f aIi1ro3,ry'
the body of Christ: all which things you have erroneously believed.
II. Item, You have divers times read the said book called WicklifF's Wicket,
and one other book of the ten commandments, which the said Richard
Smart did give you; and-at the time of your first apprehension you did hide
them in an old oak, and did not reveal them unto the bishop of Salisbury,
before whom you were abjured of heresy about eleven years since ; where you
(1) Ex Rcgist. Fitzjames, London.
208 PERSECUTION IN THE DIOCESE OF LINCOLN.
iTenni promised, by oath upon the evangelists, ever after -to "believe and hold as the
vni- christian faith taught and preached, and never to offend again in the said here-
sies, or any other, upon pain of relapse. And further, you there promised to
1509
to
perform all such penance as the said bishop of Salisbury did enjoin you : who
then enjoined you, upon the like pain, not to depart his diocese without his
, special license.
lt>1"j JII. Item, It is evident that you be relapsed, as well by your own confession,
as also by your deeds, in that about two years after your abjuration you went
into the said place where you had hidden your books ; and then taking them
away with you, you departed the aforesaid diocese without the license of the
bishop, and brought them with you to London ; where now, being attached and
taken with them upon great suspicion of heresy, you are brought unto the
bishop of London : by reason of which your demeanour, you have showed by
your impenitent and dissembled conversation, both your errors, and also your
unfaithful abjuration and disobedience unto the authority of our mother "holy
church, in that you performed not the penance : in which behalf you be volun-
tarily perjured, and also relapsed, in that you departed the said diocese without
license.
IV. Item, You be not only (as afore is said) impenitent, disobedient, volun-
tarily perjured and relapsed, by this your aforesaid heretical demeanour, but
also, since your last attachment upon suspicion of heresy, you have maliciously
spoken erroneous and damnable words, affirming before my lord of London,
your ordinary, and me, judicially sitting at Fulham, that you were sorry that
ever you did abjure your said opinions, and had not suffered then manfully for
them, for they were, and be, good and true ; and therefore you will now abide
by them to die for it. And furthermore, you have spoken against our holy
father the pope, and his authority, damnably saying that he is Antichrist, and
not the true successor of Peter, or Christ's vicar on earth ; and that his pardons
and indulgences, which he granteth in the sacrament of penance, are naught,
and that you will none of them. And likewise that the college of cardinals be
limbs of the said Antichrist : and that all other inferior prelates and priests are
the synagogue of Satan. And moreover you said, that the doctors of the
church have subverted the truth of holy Scripture, expounding it after their
own minds, and therefore their works be naught, and they in hell : but that
Wickliffis a saint in heaven, and that the book called his Wicket is good, for
therein he showeth the truth. Also you did wish that there were twenty
thousand of your opinion, against us scribes and pharisees, to see what you
would do for the defence of your faith. All which heresies you did afterwards
erroneously affirm before the archbishop of Canterbury, and then said that you
would abide by them to die for it, notwithstanding his earnest persuasions to
the contrary : and therefore, for these premises you be evidently relapsed, and
ought to be committed unto the secular power.
All these articles thus , propounded, and his constant persevering
in the truth perceived, Dr. Hcd, vicar-general, Oct. 25, by his sentence
definitive, did condemn him for a relapsed heretic, and so delivered
him the same day unto the sheriffs of London, to be openly burned
in Smithfield.
ftfjomajci JUan, Mattpz.
Next to John Stilman abovementioned, followeth in this order of
blessed martyrs, the persecution and condemnation of Thomas Man;
who, March 29, a.d. 1518, was burned in Smithfield. This Thomas
Man had likewise been apprehended for the profession of Christ's
gospel about six years before (Aug. 14, 1511), and being at that
time brought before Dr. Smith, bishop of Lincoln, was by him ex-
amined upon divers and sundry articles, the effect whereof is this: —
The Articles of Thomas Man.
I. First, That he had spoken against auricular confession, and denied the
corporal presence of Christ's body in the sacrament of the altar.
THE CAUSE OF THE MARTYKPOM OF THOMAS MAN. 209
II. Item, That ho believed that all holy men of his sect were only priests. limn,
III. Item, That he had affirmed that the Father of heaven was the altar, Vl"
and the Second Person the sacrament; and that upon the ascension day the . ..
sacrament ascended unto the altar, and there abideth still. 1500
IV. Item, That he believed not aright in the sacrament of extreme unction. .
V. Item, That he had called certain priests, meanly arrayed, pilled knaves, ,-j^
VI. Item, That he had said that pulpits were priests' lying stools. ! -
VII. Item, That he had believed that images ought not to be worshipped,
and that he neither believed in the crucifix, nor yet would worship it.
VIII. Item, That he had affirmed that he heard say, the word of God and
God to be all one, and that he that worthily receiveth the word of God, receiveth
God.
IX. Item, That he had said that the popish church was not the church of
God, but a synagogue ; and that holv men of his sect were the true church
of God.
For these and such like matters was he a long time imprisoned,
and, at last, through frailty and fear of death, was content to abjure
and yield himself unto the judgment of the Romish church, and
thereupon was enjoined, not only to make his open recantation, but
also from thenceforth to remain as prisoner within the monastery of Thomns
Osney beside Oxford, and so to bear a faggot before the first cross, JJathesent
at the next general procession within the university. Howbeit not m°nfaste-
long after, the bishop having need of the poor man's help in his osney,
household business, took him out of the said monastery, and placed
him within his own house until his business was ended ; and then (his
turn once served) he appointed Dr. Wilcocks his vicar-general, that
in his next judicial session within the priory of Frideswide at Oxford, he And of
should assign him to remain within the said priory, and not to depart ^ilT
thence without license of the prior for the time being, upon pain of
relapse : and upon like pain he also enjoined him to wear the sign of
a faggot under his uppermost garment, until he were dispensed withal
for the same. All which notwithstanding (being belike both sorry
for his offence in denying the truth, and also weary of his servile and
prison-like bondage), he bethought himself how he might best escape
their cruel hands ; and therefore, after a while, seeing good opportu-
nity offered him, he fled the diocese and jurisdiction of Lincoln, and Fieesout
seeking abroad in other counties for work, thereby to sustain his poor n^,?™0'
life, he most commonly abode, sometimes in Essex, sometimes in
Suffolk; where also he associated and joined himself unto such godly
professors of Christ's gospel, as he there could hear of. But within
few years after (such is the cruel rage of Satan and his wicked mem-
bers, who never suffer the godly long to continue untroubled,) he was
again accused of relapse by the inquest of the inquisition of London,
and thereupon was apprehended and brought before Richard Fitz- Thomns
james then bishop of London, and, Feb. 9th, 1518, he was examined """mi'1
by Dr. Hed, the bishop's vicar-general, within his palace at London : tir^e^;
where the said Hed, judicially assisted by divers of his complices, ed.
declared first unto Man, that forasmuch as he was, since his first ab- Thecause
juring, again detected and accused, by certain credible and honest martyr-
persons, of the same heresies which he had once before recanted : riom-
and further (contrary to the order of penance enjoined him by the late
bishop of Lincoln), he had departed the priory of St. Frideswide, and
the diocese of Lincoln, without leave either of the bishop or prior ;
and was now also found within the diocese of London, and that with-
210 ARTICLES OBJECTED AGAINST THOMAS MAX.
Henry out liis badge assigned him by the said bishop's vicar-general : he
VUI- therefore, as chancellor and vicar-general unto the bishop of London,
A. 1). deputed for that purpose, did then mean to proceed against him as a
1509 relapse, by order of the ecclesiastical laws in that behalf provided.
t0 Wherefore he appointed him to appear again in the consistory of
— Paul's, on the 12th of February next after, there to answer unto such
articles as then should be propounded against him. At which day
and place, the chancellor (first reciting the causes above mentioned,
why he did then proceed against him) objected unto him these articles
following : —
Articles again objected against Thomas Man.
I. First, That he was of the diocese of London.
II. Item, That he was a christian man, and professed Christ's faith, and the
determinations of holy church concerning the seven sacraments, and other
articles of the catholic faith.
III. Item, That it was not lawful for any man (especially a layman) erro-
neously and obstinately to hold, teach, or defend any opinion contrary unto the
determinations of the said church ; and that the person so doing is a heretic.
IV. Item, That within one of the twelve months of the year of our Lord
1511, he had been detected before the bishop of Lincoln that then was, of divers
points of heresy ; as that he had affirmed, that the very body and blood of
Christ was not in the sacrament of the altar, but material bread and wine, and
that he had received it at Easter as holy bread : and likewise had affirmed, that
crament. the crucifix and other images in the church, were not to be worshipped ; and
also, that confession made unto a priest was of no effect; with divers other
like opinions and heresies.
V. Item, That for these and such like points of heresy he had been abjured
in St. Mary's church at Oxford, before Dr. Wilcocks, chancellor unto the said
bishop of Lincoln, in the month of October, in the year last above-said, and
there did renounce them and all other, promising to fall no more into the like.
VI. Item, That there also he had taken a solemn oath, to do such penance as
should be enjoined him by the authority of the said bishop.
VII. Item, That then he was enjoined to abide within the monastery of
Osney by Oxford ; and also there to Dear a faggot before the first cross in the
general procession.
VIII. Item, That after a certain time that he had been in the monastery of
Osney, the bishop of Lincoln (for certain causes) took him into his own house
and service, respiting his penance for a time.
IX. Item, That afterwards, which was on the 9th of October, 1512, the said
bishop's chancellor, judicially sitting in the chapter-house of the priory of St.
Frideswide, in Oxford, did enjoin him that he should tarry within the said
priory, and not go out of the gates thereof without license of the prior for the
time being, until he had other commandment from the bishop ; upon pain of
relapse : and further, that he should from thenceforth, upon the like pain, wear
a sign of a faggot under his uppermost garment.
X. Item, That after his abjuration, and since the promises thus done, he was
yet again detected to the bishop of London by open fame, and denounced by
worshipful and credible persons, that he had used like false errors and heresies,
and had spoken and taught certain conclusions of heresy against the christian
faith, and determinations of holy church : and that he had fallen into the like
heresies as before his abjuration, both against the sacrament of the altar, against
pilgrimages and worshipping 6f images : and had blasphemed our blessed lady,
calling her Mahly.1
XI. Item, That when he wrought with one John Bates, in Stratford Lang-
thorn, in Rogation-week then three years past, and being bidden by the said
Bates's wife to go and hear the gospel, he answered and said unto her, ' I will
not go there ; go you if you list ; ye shall have as much need for it, as to put your
finger in the Cue and to burn it.'
(1) He meant some image or picture of the Virgin, set up in some blind place to be worshipped.
FALSE WITNESSES AGAINST HIM. 211
XII. Item, That in times past, for fear of abjuration, lie had fled from Col- Smn
Chester to Newbury, and after that unto Amersham, and had there damnably fJ,J-
accompanied with heretics, and had taught heresies among them : and also
since the time of his abjuration he had said, that lie and his wife had turned six . I '
to
1518.
seven hundred people unto those opinions which he was abjured of, and
others also, contrary to Christ's faith, and determinations of holy church.
His answer unto these articles was, that as touching the first nine,
he granted them in part to be true ; confessing to the second, that he
was a true Christian, and did profess the true christian faith : but the
contents of the last three he utterly denied to be true ; affirming for
certain answer unto the eleventh article, that at the time mentioned
in the same he did not work in the town of Stratford. Upon which
answer, the chancellor called forth two witnesses to be sworn and False
examined against him, willing him that if he had any just matter ",!'X>";.i
against any of them, he should refuse them. But to what purpose ■»■*>»•*
this his fair offer and trim show of upright justice served, 1 cannot Man.
see, for, notwithstanding that he charged one of the witnesses with
theft and adultery (for that having a wife of his own, he did yet run
away with another man's wife and goods), and also alleged that the
other was too young to be a sworn witness in case of life and death :
yet were they both still retained and allowed by the chancellor, and
sworn not to depart away or hide themselves, but to be always ready
to justify that which they had to say against the said Thomas Man.
And so for that time, as well they as also all the rest were commanded
to depart, and the prisoner sent again to his prison.
And here, in the order of the oath ministered unto these witnesses,
I find one note, me thinketh, worthy of present remembrance, both
for that it is mentioned in this process, and also because it somewhat
openeth the foolish, ridiculous, and feigned figurative ceremonies of
the papists, who do attribute a spiritual signification unto almost
all their doings. The register, discoursing at large the manner of
their oath, hath these words :x " He caused them to swear upon the The cere-
holy evangelists, with their three middle fingers stretched out right, SSma
and laid upon the book in sign of the Trinity and catholic faith ; and rf *£
the other two (to wit, the thumb and the little finger) put downwards minis
under the book, in token of damnation of body and soul, if they did {j^ "f
not depose the truth in the matter." This ceremonial order and oath-
exposition of theirs, as it is of their own fond invention, without any
ground or example of the Scriptures of God, so mind I to leave it
still unto themselves, with other their apish toys and ridicules, as
things worthy to be laughed at ; and will now further proceed with
the rest of this process which I have in hand.
On the 15th of February, Dr. Hed the eliancellor, again judicially Thomas
sitting in the consistory at Paul's, commanded Thomas Man to be at.'"\u
brought before him, and there causing the articles objected against j^'Vu',!!
him by the bishop of Lincoln, with his order of abjuration and <ii
})cnance, and also his own articles last propounded, to be first read ;
ic called forth a third witness to be sworn and examined upon the
same. But because he would seem to do all things by order of
(1) " Ad sancta Dei evangelia Jurari fecit, tribus meiliis digitis erectis, et super librum positis, in
signun. Trinitatis, et fidci catholicae: et duobw (videlicet pollice et auriculari) suppositis et sup-
presais, et sub libro positis, in signum damnations corporis et animac, si non deposuerint veri-
talem in liac parte.",
p2
Lor.
l.'.lS.
2] 2 FALSE WITNESSES AGAINST HIM.
Jfmry justice, and nothing- against law, he therefore appointed unto the said
vuu Thomas Man certain doctors and advocates of the Arches, as his
A. D. counsellors to plead in his behalf; which was even like as if the
1509 lamb should be committed to the defence and protection of the wolf,
or the hare to the hound. For what good help could he look for at
their hands, who were both most wicked haters and abhorrers of his
nip""3 christian profession, and also stout upholders and maintainers of that
commie- antichristian law, by which he was for the same condemned ? And
that full well appeared by the good advice and profitable counsel
which they gave him against his next examinations. For as well
upon the twentieth, and also the twenty-third of the same month of
February, in their several sessions, he seeing his own negations to
their objections to take no place against their sworn witnesses, had no
other thing to allege for himself, but that, through his twenty weeks
of hard imprisonment under the bishop of Lincoln, he was forced to
recant and abjure ; which was a poor shift of counsel, God knoweth :
The sub- and yet Dr. Rayncs being one of his chief assigned advocates, instead
tuXniie of advice, could, by his subtle questioning, then make him confess,
church- that certain talk whereof one of the witnesses had accused him, was
""•" spoken about five years before past : which, because it was since his
recantation, was rather an accusation of himself, than an excusing : and
therefore it is easy to judge with how favourable and uprightful hearts
they took upon them to be his advocates and defenders. The chan-
cellor likewise charged him upon the same twenty-third day, that
since his last imprisonment, he had said unto Robert Cluny the
bishop's sumner, and his keeper, that as far forth as he could see or
perceive for his part in this his matter, the laAvs of the church were
The laws grounded upon Pilate and Caiaphas : which objection he granting to
church of ')e true, the chancellor did for that time dismiss the court, until the
grounded ^rs^ ^ °^ March next following. Upon that day (minding to
upon pi- make quick dispatch) he in few words asked Man, what matter he
Caiaphas. llafl to allege for himself why he should not then (considering the
premises) be pronounced a relapsed heretic, and receive such punish-
ment by the secular power, as to such was due by order of law ? But
he, having no other allegations than before, which might take place
with them, was finally condemned as a heretic ; and notwithstanding
that, as the register noteth (but how truly, God only knoweth), he
did again forsake his former renewed profession of Christ's gospel,
and yielded himself unto the bishop of Rome, requiring to be ab-
solved from his curse of excommunication, and contented to do such
penance as they should enjoin him, he was yet, the 29th of March,
delivered by Dr. Hed to the sheriff of London, to be then presently
burned, with this protestation made before, that he might not consent
to the death of any, and therefore he desired the sheriff that he would
receive this person as relapsed and condemned, and yet to punish him
otherwise than by rigorous rigour.1 The words to be marked in
their sentence be these :2 " We desire, in the bowels of our Lord
•bsus Christ, that the punishment and execution of due severity, of
II) The popish chancellor would not seem to consent to his death, but yet could send birr to the
Bhamhles to be killed.
(•2) ■ Rogamiuattente In riseeribue JesuChristi, ut hujusmodi digne scveritatis ultioetexecutio
".' '''," contra te In hac parte liendataliter modcretur, ut non sit ri^or rigidus. nequc mansuefudo
diasoluta, >ed ad lalutem <-t ganitatem anima fuse," Sec.
BURNING OF THOMAS MAN, AND OTHERS. 213
thee and against thee, in this part, may so be moderated, that there «wp
be no rigorous rigour, nor yet no dissolute mansuetude, but to the
health and wealth of thy soul," &c. Wherein these catholic church- A. I >.
men do well declare, according to the words of Thomas Man before l509
expressed, that the laws of their church be grounded upon Pilate and ]:j'|'s
Caiaphas. For like as Caiaphas, with his court of Pharisees, cried —
against Christ unto Pilate : " It is not lawful for us to put any man
to death," but " if thou let him go, thou art not Caesar's friend ;"
even so they, first condemning the saints of God to death, and then
delivering them unto the secular magistrate to be thereupon exe-
cuted, would yet cover their malignant hearts with the cloak of hypo-
critical holiness and unwillingness to shed blood. But God be
thanked, who bringeth all things to light in his due time, and un-
covereth hypocrisy at last, that she may be seen and known in her
right colours !
Thus Thomas Man, the manly martyr of Jesus Christ, being con- a '■'■■
demned by the unjust sentence of Hed the chancellor, was delivered SSSed „>
to the sheriff of London sitting on horseback in Paternoster-row, 'J
before the bishop's door (a. d. 1518), he protesting to the said I ••»»> •«;»••
sheriff, that he had no power to put Man to death ; and therefore la"
desiring the sheriff to take him as a relapse and condemned, to see
him punished ; " et tamen citra mortem," that is, " without death,"
as the words stand in the register. The sheriff, receiving neither
articles to be read at his burning, nor any indentures of that his de-
livery, immediately carried him to Smithfield, and there, the same
day in the forenoon, caused him to be " put into God's angel ;" ac-
cording to the words of the said Thomas Man before, saying, that if
he were taken again of the pilled knave priests, as he called them, he
wist well he should go to the Holy Angel, and then be an angel in
heaven.
In the deposition of one Thomas Risby, weaver, of Stratford -
Langthorn, against the aforenamed martyr Thomas Man, it appeareth
by the registers, that he had been in divers places and countries in
England, and had instructed very many, as at Amersham, at London,
at Billericay, at Chelmsford, at Stratford-Langthorn, at Uxbridge, at
Burnham, at Henley-upon-Thames, in Suffolk and Norfolk, at New-
bury, and divers places more : where he himself testifieth, that as he
went westward, he found a great company of well-disposed persons,
being of the same judgment touching the sacrament of the Lord's
supper that he was of, and especially at Newbury,1 where was (as he six score
confessed) a glorious and sweet society of faithful favourers, who had ^dthree
continued the space of fifteen years together, till at last, by a certain 'Jj;^r
lewd person, whom they trusted and made of their council, they were "Jural
bewrayed ; and then many of them, to the number of six or seven sixty ury
score, were abjured, and three or four of them burnt. From thence yearsae°-
he came then (as he confessed) to the forest of Windsor, where he,
hearing of the brethren who were at Amersham, removed thither,
where he found a godly and a great company, which had continued
in that doctrine and teaching twenty-three years, which was from
this present time seventy years ago. And this congregation of
Buckinghamshire men remained till the time of John Longland,
(1) Ex Resist. Ric. Fitzjames, fol. 798.
214 ROBERT COSIN ANL WILLIAM SWEETING, MARTYRS
Henry bishop of Lincoln, whereof we shall (Christ willing) hear more
vin. r
anon.
A. D. A "ainst these faithful Christians of Amersham, were great trouble
150y and persecution in the time of William Smith bishop of Lincoln,
.r^'o about a.d. 1507, at which time divers and many were abjured, and
— it was called ' abjuratio magna,' ' the great abjuration ;' and those
maRna!'0 who were noted of that doctrine and profession, were called by the
men Wor name of ' known men,1 or ' just fast men,' &c. In this congregation
just-Vast- 0f the faithful brethren, were four principal readers or instructors ;
Amer-a whereof one was Tylsworth, called then Dr. Tylsworth, who was
'b*ID' burnt at Amersham, mentioned in our history before, by the name
of William Tilseley, whom I suppose to be rather called Tylsworth.
Another was Thomas Chase, called amongst them Dr. Chase, whom
we declared before to be murdered and hanged in the bishop of Lin-
coln's prison at Woburn, called Little-ease.1 The third was this
Thomas Man, called also Dr. Man, burned as is here mentioned in
Smithfield, a.d. 1518, who, as by his own confession, and no less
also by his travail appeareth, was God's champion, and suffered much
Thomas trouble by the priests for the cause and law of God. He confesseth
g[eatarea- himself in the same register, that he had turned seven hundred
mon%he People to his religion and doctrine, for which he thanked God. He
brethren conveyed also five couples of men and women from Amersham, Ux-
snam!er bridge, Burnham, and Henley-upon-Thames, (where they dwelt),
unto Suffolk and Norfolk, that they might be brought (as he then
termed it) out of the devil's mouth. The fourth was Robert Cosin ;
named likewise among them Dr. Cosin.
Robert Co#n, of SBucfiinpham, Hftattpc.
This Robert Cosin seemeth to be the same who in the former part
of this history is mentioned, being called by the name of father Ro-
ii is bert,2 and was burnt in Buckingham. Of this Robert Cosin, I find
!m'<uocg m tne registers of Lincoln, that he, with Thomas Man, had instructed
trine. and persuaded one Joan Norman, about Amersham, not to go on
pilgrimage, nor to worship any images of saints. Also when she had
vowed a piece of silver to a saint for the health of her child, they dis-
suaded her from the same, and said, that she needed not to confess
herself to a priest, but that it was sufficient to lift up her hands to
heaven. Moreover, they were charged by the bishop, for teaching
^ri' the said Joan, that she might as well drink on the Sunday before
mass, as on any other day. And thus you see the doctrine of these
good men, for which they were in those days abjured and condemned
to death.3
HDtUiam ^rucetina, alia£ Cler&e, JBattnr.
William Sweeting, otherwise named Clerke, first dwelt with the lady
Percy, at Darlington, in the county of Northampton, for a certain
Bpace, and from thence went to Boxtcd, in the county of Essex,
where he was the holy water clerk the space of seven years : after
that, lie was bailiff and farmer to Mrs. Margery Wood, the term of
thii ti en years. From Boxtcd he departed and came to the town of
U) Sec vol. Iv. page 123. (2) Ibid, page 124. (3) Ex Regist. Johan. Longland.
JAMES BREWSTER, MARTYR. 215
St. Osithe, where he served the prior of St. Osithe's, named George Bmma
Laund, the space of sixteen years and more ; where lie had so turned '
the prior by his persuasions, that the said prior of St. Osithe was A.D.
afterwards compelled to abjure.1 This William Sweeting, coming 1509
up to London with the aforesaid prior, for suspicion of heresy 15^8
was committed to the Lollards1 tower, under the custody of Charles '-
Joseph, and there, being abjured in the church of St. Paul, was con- Eaumi!
strained to bear a faggot at Paul's Cross, and at Colchester ; and jjj'"^,,
afterwards to wear a faggot upon his coat all his life, which he did two atjured. '
years together upon his left sleeve, till at length the parson of Col-
chester required him to help him in the service of the church ; and so
plucked the badge from his sleeve, and there he remained two years,
being the holy water clerk. From thence afterward he departed, and
travelling abroad, came to Rederiffe, in the diocese of Winchester,
where he was holy water clerk the space of a year. Then he went to
Chelsea, where he was their neatherd, and kept the town beasts ; in
which town, upon St. Ann's day in the morning, as he went forth
with his beasts to the field, the good man was apprehended and
brought before the bishop, and his chamber searched for books ; this
was a.d. 1511.
The crimes whereupon he was examined, were these : —
First, For having much conference with one William Man, of Boxted, in a
hook which was called Matthew.
Item, That he had familiarity, and frequented much the company of James
Brewster, who had heen before abjured.
Item, That when his wife should go on pilgrimage, he asked of her, what Against
good she would receive by her going on pilgrimage ? adding moreover, that as Pu8*>m-
he supposed it was to no purpose nor profit ; but rather it were better for her to
keep at home, and to attend her business.
Item, That he had learned and received of William Man, that the sacrament Tranaub-
' the priests' altar, was not I
ceived in memorial of Christ.
Item, That he had propounded and affirmed the same doctrine to James
Brewster.
Item, Because he had reprehended his wife for worshipping the images in the Against
church, and for setting up candles before them. images.
And thus have you all the causes and crimes laid against this
William Sweeting wherefore he was condemned : who then being
asked what cause he had, why he should not be judged for a relapse,
said, he had nothing else, but only that he committed himself to the
mercy of Almighty God.
3jame£ 2Breto£ter, of Colcheter, JEtartuc.
With William Sweeting also the same time was examined and con-
demned, James Brewster, of the parish of St. Nicholas, in Colchester.
This James Brewster was a carpenter, dwelling ten years in the town
of Colchester ; who, being unlettered, could neither read nor write,
and was apprehended upon the day of St. James, in one Walker's
house, in St. Clement's parish.
About six years before, which was a. d. 1505, he had been abjured
by William Warham, archbishop of Canterbury, the sec of London
(1) Ex Regist. Ric. Fitzjaiiics, fol. CO.
216 BURNING OF SWEETING AND 1IREWSTER.
iienry being then vacant ; and after other penance done at Colchester, was
enjoined to wear a faggot upon his upper garment during his life,
A.D. which badge he did bear upon his left shoulder near the space of two
years, till the comptroller of the earl of Oxford plucked it away, because
he was labouring in the works of the earl.
The crimes whereupon he was examined, and which he confessed,
were these : —
150!)
to
1518.
Crimes First, That he had been five times with William Sweeting in the fields keep-
objected ing beasts, hearing him read many good things out of a certain book : at which
lfrewster reacmig a'so were present at one time Woodroof or Woodbinde, a netmaker,
with his wife ; also a brother-in-law of William Sweeting ; and another time
Thomas Goodred, who heard likewise the said William Sweeting read.
Item, Because he used the company and conference of Henry Hert, carpen-
ter, of Westminster, and wrought with him in his science at Westminster.
Item, For having a certain little book of Scripture in English, of an old
writing almost worn for age, whose name is not there expressed.
Item, Because he, hearing upon a time one Master Bardfield, of Colchester,
thus say : ' He that will not worship the Maozim ! in heart and thought, shall
die in sight,' he asked afterwards of William Man, what that word Maozim
should mean? who told him, that it signified as much as the masing2 God, to
wit, the sacrament of the altar.
Item, That he had much conference with Henry Hert, against oblations and
images, and that it was better bestowed mtmey which was given to the poor,
than that which was offered in pilgrimage.
Item, For that he had communication and conference with Roger Helliar,
and one Walker, a thicker of St. Clements, concerning divers such matters of
pilgrimage, offering to images, worshipping of saints, and the sacrament of the
altar.
a peri- Item, When Thomas Goodred, William Sweeting, and he, in the fields keep-
ings jng beasts, were talking together of the sacrament of the Lord's body, and like
matters, this James Brewster should thus say : ' Now the Son of the living God
help us:' unto whom William Sweeting again should answer: ' Now Almighty
God so do.'3
And thus have you the causes likewise and crimes laid against
James Brewster, upon which he, with William Sweeting, were toge-
ther examined and condemned. Then being asked, as the Romish
manner is, Whether he had any cause why he should not be adjudged
for a relapse ; he, trusting to find favour and grace in submitting
himself, said, that he submitted him to the mercy of Almighty God,
and to the favourable goodness of him his Judge. And likewise did
William Sweeting submit himself; trusting belike that they should
find some favour and relief in this humble subjecting themselves unto
their goodness.
The un- But note here the unmerciful and unchristian dealing of these
',',',', n',,!'. catholic fathers, who, upon their submission, were contented to give
de.'Sing" out a s°lemn commission, the tenor whereof was to release and par-
'^ji'^ don them from the sentence of excommunication, which they had
papist., incurred : but immediately after upon the same, the bishop, all this
swr. r>.,.. notwithstanding, pronounced upon them the sentence of death and
Brewster condemnation; whereupon they were both delivered to the secular
slnitb,'" P°*er, and both together burnt in Smithfield at one fire, the 18th
"* day of October, a. d. 1511.
(1) Maozim in Dan. ii.is amidol, and Bignlfleth as much as torts and munitions.
CI) " Masing," fanciful.— En. (;i) Ex. Hegist. Lund.
WILLIAM SMITH AND JOHN LONGLAKD, PERSECUTORS. VI'
Cfjrtftopfjer &fjoemafcer, of feat nai^enben, lEtnrtnt. rSSH
To these blessed saints before-named, we will also adjoin Christopher A. I).
Shoemaker, of whom this I find briefly in the register of sir John 150y
Longland ; that the said Christopher Shoemaker, a parishioner of l"
Great Missenden, came to the house of John Say, and after other -
matters of talk, read to him out of a little book the words which
Christ spake to his disciples. And thus coming to his house about
four times, at every time he read something out of the same book
unto him, teaching him not to be deceived in the priests1 celebration
at mass ; and declaring that it was not the same very present body
of Christ, as the priests did fantasy ; but in substance bread, bearing
the remembrance of Christ : and taught him moreover, that pilgrimage,
worshipping and setting up candles to saints, were all unprofitable.
And thus the said John Say, being taught by this Christopher, and
also confirmed by John Okenden and Robert" Pope, was brought to
the knowledge of the same doctrine. Thus much briefly I find in {Jj5J£
that register concerning Christopher Shoemaker : declaring further, burilt '"
that he was burned at Newbury about this time, which was a.d. 1518. bury"
And thus much out of the registers of London.
In turning over the registers and records of Lincoln likewise, and
coining to the year of our Lord 1520, and to 1521, I find that as
the light of the Gospel began more to appear, and the number of
professors to grow, so the vehemency of persecution, and stir of the
bishops began also to increase ; whereupon ensued great perturbation
and grievous affliction in divers and sundry quarters of this realm,
especially about Buckinghamshire and Amersham, Uxbridge, Henley,
Newbury, in the diocese of London, in Essex, Colchester, Suffolk,
and Norfolk, and other parts more. And this was before the name
of Luther was heard of in these countries among the people. Where-
fore they are much beguiled and misinformed, who condemn this kind
of doctrine now received, of novelty ; asking, " Where was this
church and religion forty years ago, before Luther's time ?" To
whom it may be answered, that this religion and form of doctrine Theanti-
was planted by the apostles, and taught by true bishops ; afterward ut'JUll
decayed, and now reformed again. Although it was not received nor '^\\TJ.''■'
admitted of the pope's clergy before Luther's time, neither yet is ; gospel.
yet it was received of others, in whose hearts it pleased the Lord
secretly to work ; and that of a great number, who both professed
and suffered for the same, as in the former times of this history may
appear. And if they think this doctrine be so new that it was not
heard of before Luther's time, how then came such great persecution
before Luther's time here in England ? If these were of the same
profession which they were of, then was their cruelty unreasonable,
so to persecute their own catholic fraternity. And if they were
otherwise, how then is this doctrine of the gospel so new, or how arc
the professors thereof so late started up as they pretend them to be ?
But this cometh only of ignorance, and for not knowing nor con- igno-
sidering well the times and antiquities of the church which have been mildly
before us ; which if they did, they should see and say, that the church
of England hath not lacked great multitudes who tasted and followed
to
1518
latter
times
218 WILLIAM SMITH AMD JOHN LON'GLAND, PEIISECUTOKS.
}f,nrv the sweetness of God's holy word almost in as ample manner, for the
riIL number of well-disposed hearts, as now. Although public authority
A.I), then lacked to maintain the open preaching of the gospel, yet the
lr\°(J secret multitude of true professors was not much unequal : certes the
fervent zeal of those christian days seemed much superior to these
our days and times ; as manifestly may appear by their sitting up all
umcsof night in reading and hearing; also by their expenses and charges in
''<•! 'c"ui buying of books in English, of whom some gave five marks,1 some
pared more, some less, for a book : some gave a load of hay for a few
these chapters of St. James, or of St. Paul in English. In which rarity of
books, and want of teachers, this one thing 1 greatly marvel and muse
at ; to note in the registers, and to consider how the word of truth,
notwithstanding, did multiply so exceedingly as it did amongst them :
wherein is to be seen no doubt the marvellous working of God's
mighty power. For so I find and observe in considering the registers,
how one neighbour, resorting and conferring with another, eftsoons
with a few words of the first or second talk, did win and turn their
minds to that wherein they desired to persuade them, touching the
Earnest truth of God's word and his sacraments. To see their travails, their
earnest seekings, their burning zeal, their readings, their watchings,
their sweet assemblies, their love and concord, their godly living, their
Christ's0 faithful demeaning with the faithful, may make us now, in these our
s°bl'c ' days of free profession, to blush for shame.
Four principal points they stood in against the church of Rome :
in pilgrimage, in adoration of saints, in reading Scripture-books
in English, and in the carnal presence of Christ's body in the
sacrament.
Abjuratio After the great abjuration aforesaid, which was under William
Smith, bishop of Lincoln, they were noted and termed among them-
zeal of
our fore
fathers I
following
'ii.i-ii.i.
rn"n]"st- selves by the name of ' known-men,' or ' just-fast-men :' as now they
fast-men. are called by the name of Protestants.
Prac- As they were simple, and yet not uncircumspect in their doings,
Romish s0 the crafty serpent, being more wily than they, by fraudulent
prelates. subtlety did so circumvent them, that he caused the wife to detect
the husband, the husband the wife, the father the daughter, the
daughter the father, the brother to disclose the brother, and neighbour
the neighbour. Neither were there any assemblies nor readings kept,
but both the persons and also the books were known ; neither was
any word so closely spoken, nor article mentioned, but it was dis-
covered. So subtilely and sleightly these catholic prelates did use
their inquisitions and examinations, that nothing was done or said
among these ' known-men,' so covertly, fifteen or twenty years before,
but it was brought at length to their intelligence. Such captious
interrogatories, so many articles and suspicions they had, such espials
and privy scouts they sent abroad, such authority and credit they had
with the king, and in the king's name ; such diligence they showed
in that behalf, so violently and impudently they abused the book of
the peaceable evangelists, wresting men's consciences upon their oath,
swearing them upon the same to detect themselves, their fathers and
mothers, and other of their kindred, with their friends and neighbours,
and that to death. All which things in the further process of the
(1) A mark was anciently valued at thirty shillings, afterwards at thirteen and fourpence.— Ed.
INTERROGATORIES MIXISTERED AGAINST THE EXAMIXATES. 219
table ensuing (Christ willing), which we have collected out of some Henry
part of the registers of Lincoln, shall appear.
For the better declaration whereof, first here is to be premonished A- L>-
by the way, touching the see of Lincoln, that after William Smith 150y
succeeded John Longland. This William Smith, although he was 15°8
somewhat eager and sharp against the poor simple flock of Christ's „
servants, under whom some were burned, many abjured, a great number Smith,
molested, as partly hath been afore declared ; yet was he nothing so u^om*'
bloody or cruel as was the said Longland, who afterwards succeeded John
in that diocese ; for so I find of him, that in the time of the great bShop of'
abjuration and troublesome affliction of Buckinghamshire men, where- Lillcoln-
in many were abjured, and certain burned ; yet divers he sent quietly
home without punishment and penance, bidding them go home and
live as good christian men should do ; and many who were enjoined israzcn-
penance before, he did release. This Smith died about a. d. 1515, oxford?
by whom was builded, as is aforesaid, the college of Brazennose in huM^-
Oxford.
Not long after him followed John Longland, a fierce and cruel
vexer of the faithful poor servants of Christ ; who, to renew again the
old sparkles of persecution which were not yet utterly quenched, first
began with one or two of those who had been abjured., whom he
thought to be most notorious, causing them, byforce of their oath,
to detect and bewray, not only their own opinions touching points of
religion, but also to discover all others of their affinity, who were
either suspected or abjured before. And them likewise he put to
their oath, most violently constraining them to utter and confess both
themselves, and whom else soever they knew : by reason whereof an Longland
incredible multitude of men, women, and maidens, were brought forth ousperse-
to examination, and straiehtly handled ; and such as were found in C"U'.T°,{
l 11 mi l l l • l • • Christ s
relapse were burned. 1 he rest were so burdened with superstitious people,
and idolatrous penance and injunctions, that either through grief of con-
science they shortly died, or else with shame they lived. All which
tragical doings and proceedings of the bishop against these ' known1
and ' just-fast-men,1 in these tables hereunder following (Christ
granting) shall appear, both with the accusers, and with the parties
themselves accused, and also the crimes objected.
But before we enter into the table, it shall be requisite first to hear
the order and copy of his captious and crafty interrogatories, whereby
he constrained the simple poor men to accuse and impeach one
another : which interrogatories were these in order as followeth.
CAPTIOUS INTERROGATORIES MIXISTERED COMMONLY BY TriE
BISHOP OF LINCOLN, AGAINST THliSE EXAMINATES
HERE FOLLOWING.
The inteiTogatories or articles which Longland, bishop of Lincoln,
used most commonly to minister to these examinates or ' known-men,1
in number were nine, and are these as followeth.
I. First, Whether they or any of them did know, that certain of the parish of
Amersham had been convented before William Smith, late bishop of Lincoln,
for heresy ?
220 INTERROGATORIES MINISTERED AGAINST THE EXAA1INATES.
Jienry II. Item, Whether they knew that they, so convented before the said bishop,
11 "■ did err in the sacrament of the altar, or in any other sacrament of the church :
. n and if they did, in what sacraments, and in which of them? Also whether they
", -„,." knew that the said parties so convented did confess their errors, and receive
. penance for the same?
■ir-io III. Item, Whether they, or any of them, were of the society of those so
L convented for heresy : and if they were, what fellowship they had with them,
and with whom ?
IV. Item, Whether they, or any of them, were ever conversant with such a
one (naming the person whom they knew suspected, as with Thurstan Little-
page) ? And if they were, what conversation they had with him, how long,
and when : and whether they knew the said person to have been suspected of
heresy ?
V. Item, Whether they, or any of them, were ever conversant witli him ;
or with him (naming some other person whom they suspected, as Alexander
Mastall) ? and if they were, how, and how long? and whether they knew the
said person to be suspected of heresy ?
VI. Item, Whether they or any of them had been beforetime detected of
heresy, to the office of the aforesaid William bishop of Lincoln : and if they
were, by what person or persons they were detected ? or else, whether they only
were called by the aforesaid William bishop for heresy ?
VII. Item, Whether he or they be noted and holden for heretics; or be re-
puted and defamed to be of the sect of those who were convented for heresy ?
and whether he or they be named for a 'known-man' amongst them?
VIII. Item, Whether "he or they have been ever at any readings of such as
have been so convented for heresy"?
IX. Item, Whether he or they were ever in any secret communication or
conventicle with them? whom or which of them he knew to be named and
reputed for a 'known-man,' or holding against the sacrament of the altar, or
other sacraments and articles of faith ? and if they knew any such, to declare
where and when, and what they were, and who were present the same time?
These articles and interrogatories thus declared, now followcth to
be showed a certain brief sum compendiously collected out of the
registers of John Longland, bishop of Lincoln, declaring, in order of
a table, the names first of those who by oath were constrained against
their wills to detect and accuse others. Secondly, The persons that
were accused. Thirdly, The crimes to them objected ; as in the
process of this table shall follow to be seen.
And first; forasmuch as the bishop perceived that Roger Bennet,
William Chedwell, Edmund Dormer, Thomas Harding, Robert
Andrew, with such others, were men especially noted to be of that
side, therefore, to work his purpose the better, he began with them ;
producing the same as witnesses, to detect first Robert Bartlet of
AnuTsham, and Richard his brother ; understanding that these afore-
named witnesses, because they had been abjured before, durst now
•In no other, upon pain of relapse, but needs confess whatsoever was
put unto them. And therefore, because Robert Bartlet and Richard
his brother, being called before the bishop, and sworn upon their
oath, would confess nothing against themselves; the bishop, to con-
vict them by witnesses, went first to William Chedwell, lying sore
sick in his bed, causing him upon the evangelists to swear, whether
he knew the aforesaid Robert and Richard Bartlet to be ' known-
men.1 Which being done, the bishop then called before him Robert
Andrew, Roger Bennet, John Hill, Edmund Dormer, John Milsent,
Thomas Bernard, Thomas Littlepage, John Dossct (all Anicrsham
men), who, being abjured before, as is said, durst no otherwise do
PERSECUTION IN THE DIOCESE OF LINCOLN) 221
but confess upon their oath that Robert ami Richard Bartlet were Bm
'known-men.1 Ami yet the bishop, not contented with this, caused VI"
also their two wives, to wit, Margaret the wife of Robert Bartlet, and a . i>.
Isabel the wife of Richard Bartlet, to depose and give witness against 1509
their own natural husbands. Albeit Isabel Bartlet, being somewhat .J?8
more temperate of her tongue, refused utterly to confess any thing of L
hcr husband, and denied her husband's words to be true; till at last,
she being convicted of perjury, was constrained to utter tin- truth, as
in the process of this table following, more particularly followcth to
be seen.
A TABLE, DESCRIBING THE GRIEVOUS AFFLICTIONS OF GOOD
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE DIOCESE OF LINCOLN, UNDER JOHN
LONGLAND THE BISHOP; WITH THE NAMES BOTH OF THE
ACCUSERS, AND OF THEM THAT WERE ACCUSED : ALSO WITH
THE CRIMES TO THEM OBJECTED : OUT OF TITF. REGISTERS
OF THE SAID DIOCESE, A. D. 1521.1
William Chcdwell, sick in his bed ; Robert Andrew, Robert Bennet,
John Hill, Edmund Dormer, John Milsent, Thomas Bernard.
Thomas Littlepagc, John Dosset, Margaret Bartlet, Isabel Bartlet :
these being before abjured, were now compelled by oath to detect
Robert Bartlet and Richard Bartlet, his brother.
This Robert Bartlet, and Richard his brother, were detected by these afore- A.D.
said accusers, to be ' known-men,' that is, to be of the same company and affinity ] 5 1 s
with these jurats, and others who had been abjured before in the time of Wil- to
Ham Smith, bishop of Lincoln, about a. d. 1508 ; and that in the house of Thomas 1521.
Harding they were so noted, by the words of Harding's wife, who, speaking to
Robert Bartlet, said, That she was glad that he was converted to grace, and
chosen to Almighty God ; requiring him never to forsake that he was called to ;
for if he did, there was no sacrifice left for him. Also the said Harding's wife,
speaking to Richard Bartlet coming into her house, said, ' Here cometh a good
man, and I hope he will be a good man : but he hath so much mind of buying
and Belling and taking of farms, that it putteth his mind from all goodness.'
' By which words it appeareth,' said they, ' that he is a 'known-man.' Item,
That Robert Bartlet, speaking to Harding's wife, said, he had thought to have
called William Tylsworth false heretic; but now he was better advised. Item,
That they used the lectures and readings of that company.
This Robert Bartlet, and Richard his brother, first being sworn, and yet con-
fessing nothing before the bishop, at last were convicted by witness, as above
appeareth, and noted therefore of perjury. Wherefore incurring into greater
danger, they were constrained at their next examination to Utter themselves,
and confess what they had both done and said; that is, that the said Robert For road-
had read unto Richard his brother a parcel of Scripture beginning thus : ' James >ng «rip-
the servant of God, to the twelve kinds,' &rc. Item, that lie heard William English,
Tylsworth say, that images of saints were but stocks and stones, and dead
things ; and that he taught the same to his brother Richard, and concealed the
words of William Tylsworth. Item, That he partly believed Thomas Mastal,
teaching him that the true presence of Christ was not in the sacrament; and
(1) Had we no other evidence but these registers of bishop Longlind, we should have abundant
testimony to prove that the church of Rome is an enemy to the diffusion of the word of God. Lei
the reader peruse the nature of the charges preferred against the above honest and weB-dis]
persons; let the crimes alleged be weighed against the punishments Inflicti d ource from
whence the persecution arose ; the object against which Romish vengeance was principally directed,
be respectively, dispassionately, and attentively considered, and it will not now excite surprise,
that infidelity and Romanism are twin sisters, leagued In Impious companionship, tn quench the
spirit of religion, to suppress the word of Cod, and to subvert the course of pure and undefiled
Christianity.— Ed.
222 FROM THE REGISTERS OF BISHOP LONGLAND.
Henry likewise of images and pilgrimages. Item, for receiving the communion at
vui- Easter without shrift, &c.
A.D.
1518 Robert Bartlet brought to examination, was caused by his oath to
detect these persons :
Richard, Brother of Robert Bartlet.
to
1521
The bro- The crime whereof Robert Bartlet impeached his brother Richard was this :
ther de- Because, be said, his brother Richard had been much conversant with Thurstan
the'bro- Littlepage, and had learned of him the counsels and secrets of those men : also
ther. that he had learned of him some of the epistle of St. James, thus beginning :
'James the servant of God, to the twelve kinds,' &c.
Isabel Bartlet, wife of Robert Bartlet.
The The cause wherein Robert Bartlet did detect his wife, was this : That when
d'tectetl tne bishop's servant was come for her husband, she uttered these words, say-
the wife, ing, Alas ! he was now an undone man, and she but a dead woman.
Futhermore, the said Robert being demanded of the bishop, whether he knew
Isabel his wife to be of the sect of heretics before he married her, said, ' Yea.'
Being asked again, if she had not been of that sect, whether then he would
have married her ? he granted the same likewise.
Agnes Wellis, his Sister.
The Futhermore, the said Robert Bartlet detected his own sister, in that he had
acenseth tw*ce instructed her not to worship images, and also had taught her in the
the sister, epistle of St. James.
Elizabeth Dean, wife of Richard Dean of West Wycombe, Emmar Tylsworth,
wife of William Tylsworth, William Grinder and his wife, John Scrivener,
Alexander Mastal, William Tylsworth, Thurstan Littlepage, and John Bartlet,
his brother.
The said Robert Bartlet detected also these to be of the number of ' known-
men,' for that they resorted many times together, reading and conferring
among themselves, and talking against worshipping of images, and pilgrimage.
And if any carae in amongst them that were not of their side, then they would
say no more, but keep all silence, &c.
Richard Bartlet, by his oath, was constrained to detect the follow-
ing person :
Agnes Wellis, wife of John Wellis, his Sister.
Thc. This Agnes was detected of her brother in three points ; first, for learning
acciueth the epistle of St. James in English of Thurstan Littlepage ; secondly,
liis sister, for not believing the bodily presence in the sacrament; thirdly, for speaking
against worshipping of images, and going on pilgrimages.
Also of old Father Bartlet, his own Father.
The _ This Richard Bartlet also in his confession said of his father, that he was a
j J'J s better man than he was taken for: for the other day there came a man to him
Almighty as he was threshing, and said, ' God speed, father Bartlet, ye work sore:' 'Yea,'
threshed sa\^ ile < j thresh God Almighty out of the straw!'1
out of the ' ° J
straw.
Against this Agnes Wellis brought and examined before the
bishop, were ministered these interrogatories, which for certain causes
I thought here to insert, for our posterity to note and consider ; and
they are these that follow :
(I) How (Vibrant must be the idolatry of the popish service at the elevation and adoration of
the host, to have provoked a rustic of the sixteenth century to utter such a bitter sarcasm !— Ed.
PERSECUTION IN THE DIOCESE OF LINCOLN, 223
Articles ministered to Agnes Wellis. Bnr$
I. Whether she knew that certain of the parish of Amersham were con-
vented before Wiiliam Smith, late bishop of Lincoln, for heresy ? ; U-
II. Item, Whether she knew that certain of them, so convented before the 1518
bishop for heresy, did err in the sacrament of the altar, or in other sacraments, *°
and what errors they were, and wherein ? laLI.
III. Item, Whether she knew any others to be suspected of the same heresy
or sect, beside those of Amersham so convented ? who they were, and how many ?
IV. Item, Whether she had been of the same company, or sect, or opinion
with them that were convented before the bishop for heresy ? and if she were,
what company she used, and whose ?
V. Item, Whether she was at any time conversant with Thurstan Littlepage?
and if she were, how oft she had been in his company, how, what time, in what
place, who else were present, for what causes, and whether she knew him to be
suspected for heresy?
VI. Item, Whe